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A group opposing the construction of the Jalaur mega-dam, in the amount of 11 billion pesos, in Calinog, Iloilo claimed that the series of earthquakes that shook Monday the Panay and Guimaras Islands constitutes clear and strong evidence of the strength of the West Panay Fault (WPF).
In a statement, the Jalaur River People's Movement (JRPM) said the National Irrigation Administration was deprecating the dynamism of the WPF in its 2011 feasibility study on the Jalaur mega dam project.
The study was submitted to the Korea Export-Import Bank to speed up the construction of the dam.
The 214-page NIA report indicates that the dam project area is in contact with the West Panay Fault, but this flaw is "inactive and leaves no vestige in motion".
But the earthquake swarm triggered by the WPF movement has denied the NIA's findings, the JRPM said.
"It is clear that the NIA ignores the scientific facts by producing lies that will legitimize their construction of the mega dam. An irrefutable fact is that in 1948, the fault caused one of the most powerful earthquakes in the island and country of magnitude 8.1 that destroyed 55 Panay churches, including the old one. Jaro church, "the statement added.
The group reiterated its call "to stop the construction of the Jalaur mega dam in Calinog that will endanger the lives of millions of Ilonggos".
"The misconceptions and lies of the NIA must stop, because this mega dam will never benefit farmers and indigenous peoples, but only the destruction of their lives, their livelihoods and their farmland."
The Jalaur project is expected to begin after a Korean company launches the largest dam outside Luzon.
The project is partly funded by a £ 8.9 billion loan from Korea's import-export bank (EXIM), while the Philippine government has funded the remaining P2.3 billion.
The project covers the construction of 109-meter high dam Jalaur, 38.5 meters of dam after-edge, 10 meters of captive dam of Alibunan, a channel of 80.74 kilometers in height and its related structures.
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