San Roque Dam

The proposed San Roque Dam would be located on the Agno River in the mountainous Cordillera region of Luzon island in the Philippines. If completed, San Roque would be the tallest dam and largest private hydropower project in Asia, costing US$1.19 billion and generating 345 MW of power. Preparation of the site began in 1998, and construction is slated for completion in 2004.

The San Roque Power Corporation is owned by a consortium of Japanese and US companies, include Sithe Energies of the US and Marubeni of Japan. In October 1998, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) approved a $302 million loan to the private sector developers, and lent an additional $400 million to the National Power Corporation in September 1999. However, due to public pressure in Japan and evidence that it may have breached its own guidelines, JBIC has not yet disbursed all of its loans for the project.

Already, more than 600 families have been evicted to make way for the dam. Many are struggling to survive in cramped quarters in a resettlement site, without any land to sustain them. The lives of another 200 families are being disrupted by excavation for the dam. They, too, will be forced from their lands.

The project is fiercely opposed by thousands of indigenous Ibaloi peoples upstream of the dam site. The Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance estimates that if the dam is built, more than 35,000 indigenous people living upstream could be adversely affected by the project. International Rivers is working with the CPA and the Ibaloi community organization, the Shalupirip Santahnay Indigenous People’s Movement, to discourage JBIC investment in the project.

Latest Additions
Cordillera People’s Alliance
calls on Philippine President to stop the San Roque Dam operation and to resolve all outstanding issues.
Dams in the Cordillera
The River Systems of the Cordillera and their Watersheds, background paper prepared by the Cordillera People’s Alliance.
San Roque Sign-On Letter to JBIC
NGOs call for JBIC to cancel financing given the violations of Philippine law and OECD guidelines.
Only 6 of 35 Independent Power Producer Contracts Pass Muster in Philippines
From the Philippine Star, July 5, 2002
The National Commission On Indigenous Peoples Must Prevent The Operation Of The San Roque Dam!
Statement from the Itogon Inter–Barangay Alliance to the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, April 16, 2002.