CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY —The Energy department condemned on Tuesday the attack of a hydropower plant project in Barangay Lumbayao, Valencia City in Bukidnon last Saturday, calling it unwarranted since it would delay the facility s completion.
“This attack is totally unwarranted considering that it is not a military installation but a development project that seeks to contribute to uplifting the socioeconomic conditions of the people,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi in a statement the agency released to the media Tuesday.
The attack, he said, will not only stall the project’s construction timeline, it will also set back efforts to improve the quality of life of the people of Bukidnon. The target date of commissioning is the first half of 2019.
“We are aiming to facilitate the development of all alternative and indigenous energy supply for the future of Mindanaoans. We have long been wanting our kababayans living there to feel the presence of progress, yet these people are stealing that chance from them,” Cusi said.
According to the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division, about 15 fully armed NPA fighters entered the proposed 10.6-megawatt Pulanai hydroelectric power plant site and confiscated the cellphones of workers, fired several shots after planting a couple of improvised explosive devices.