A forgotten hydro power plant project in Abulug

So much has been said about the electric power shortage in Mindanao and the looming power shortage in Luzon, and government officials have been blamed for not having the foresight to address the problem before it became a full-blown reality.

Although Ferdinand Marcos has been pictured as a bad president, we should credit him for having the vision to see the great value of electric power in the pursuit of economic growth.

Marcos ordered the construction of the Magat River Multipurpose Dam that has now been producing electric power for the Luzon grid and irrigating vast tracks of land in the province of Isabela, thus making the province a rice granary. He also had plans to construct a series of dams at the Chico River to produce electricity, a project that was abandoned because of the serious objections of the native residents along the banks of the river.

Marcos then pushed for the construction of the Abulug River Multipurpose Dam to produce 4.5 magawatts of electric power, so it was said, and to irrigate vast tracts of land in northwestern Cagayan. A lot of construction materials and equipment were delivered to the site where the dam was supposed to be built, but the project was overtaken by the 1986 Edsa Revolution.

When President Cory Aquino took over, she did not continue the project, perhaps, for political revenge or for lack of foresight.  The construction materials and equipment at the project site were stolen, and the government lost millions of pesos.

With the present electric power crisis, the government should think of reviving the Abulug River Multipurpose Dam.

—ANTONINO A. AQUILIZAN,

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