Metro Infanta Foundation

By Rudy Arizala

Mga mahal na kabayan:

Sukdol-langit ang aking hinagpis nang mabalita ko ang pahatid-balita ni Kuya Poling Derilo hinggil sa Laiban Dam. Kumuha na nga ang mga taga Maynila ng tubig buhat sa Ilog ng Umiray, Gen. Nakar, Quezon, ngayon ay kukuha na naman sila ng tubig sa Gen. Nakar, mula sa ilog ng Agus (kaliwa). Ang masakit pa nito, di lamang sila kukuha ng tubig uli sa atin kundi gagawa ng malaking dam na maaaring gumuho dahil sa earthquake belt daw itatayo ang nasabing dam. Kaya maaring magkaroon ng "deluvio" uli sa ating bayan ng Infanta, Gen. Nakar at Real pagka gumuho ang nasabing dam.

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? Hindi lamang pinuputol nila ang ating mga kakahoyan sa Sierra Madre kundi kinukuha pati nila ang ating mga tubig sa kailogan.

Ngunit ang pinaka masakit o mahapdi ay wala silang pakundangan sa buhay, kagalingan at kapakanan ng mga mamamayan sa nasabing mga bayan.

ARE WE PEOPLE FROM "IREGNA" THAT EXPENDABLE?

BAHALA NA KAYO SA INYONG BUHAY BASTA MAY TUBIG KAMI RITO SA MAYNILA AT MAY PAGKUKUNAN NG ELECTRICT POWER.

And this reminds me again what an American Indian Chief named Seattle wrote the White Chief in Washington, D.C., when he learned of the proposal to buy Indian lands. The Indian Chief wrote:

"This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. . . . it is sacred that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water´s murmur is the voice of my father´s father.

"The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children . . . .

"We know that the white man does not understand our ways. Our portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father´s grave behind, and he does not care. . . He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky as things to be bought, plundered, and sold like sheep or bright beads, His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert. . . . And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night?
x x x x x
"We do not understand when. . . the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. the end of living and the beginning of survival."

WILL NOT THE CONSTRUCTION OF LAIBAN DAM BE THE " END OF LIVING AND THE BEGINNING OF SURVIVAL" FOR THE POOR PEOPLE OF INFANTA, REAL AND GEN. NAKAR?

I hope there will not come a time when we will not only ask: "Where are the thicket? Where are the eagle? but also where are the towns of Gen. Nakar, Real and Infanta?
And sadly, the answer would be "GONE!."

SO, LET US ALL JOIN HANDS AND OPPOSE THE LAIBAN PROJECT.

Rudy

Below is a letter Rudy sent to governor Willi Enverga. Please use it as a sample letter. Editor

Santiago, Chile
12 March 2007

Hon. Willie L. Enverga
Governor, Cuezon Province
Lucena City, Philippines

Dear Pareng Willie:

I am writing you this as a humble citizen of our Republic and native of Infanta, Quezon.

I hope and pray that you and all other concerned citizens especially of IREGNA towns (Infanta, Real, Gen. Nakar) in Quezon province would be able to do something to prevent a project which may endanger thousands of lives and properties in Quezon province.

I refer to a report below published in the website of the Metro Infanta Foundation based in Arvada, Texas, U.S.A.

With best wishes and regards.

Sincerely yours,

RUDY A. ARIZALA