Philippines: Indigenous Peoples Give Thanks for Benefits from Mt Apo Geothermal Power Plants

Manobos hold thanksgiving ritual in Mt. Apo for Benefits from geothermal power (Minda News)

Leaders of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in North Cotabato held a ritual on Friday as part of their thanksgiving for the ‘gifts’ they received from a private company for allowing it to use part of their ancestral domain as site of its geothermal power production.

Leaders from the Manobo Apao Descendants of the Ancestral Domain of Mount Apo (MADADMA) led the ritual they call ‘Sumaya’ at Lake Agco in Barangay Ilomavis.

The Manobos came from Barangay Ilomavis in Kidapawan City and Barangay Kinawayan in Magpet, whose lands are situated within the 10-kilometer radius of the 701-hectare in Mount Apo where the geothermal power plants owned by the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) were constructed in the early 1990s.

The Manobos claim the land as part of their ancestral domain.

During the ritual, MADADMA chair Datu Damaso Bayawan said they appreciate the benefits they continue to receive from EDC as part of their royalty share.

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