The New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project (NCWS-KDP)

Project Summary

The New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project (NCWS-KDP) is listed as one of the banner projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program. It aims to supply 600 million liters of water per day and benefit some 17.46 million people or about 3.49 million households of Metro Manila, Rizal and Quezon to reduce the current 97% dependence on the Angat Dam. The said dam is located in the municipalities of General Nakar and Infanta in the province of Quezon and the municipality of Teresa in the province of Rizal. The project is estimated to cost P18.7 billion, of which P12.2 billion is funded by China’s Official Development Assistance. The five-year project was scheduled for construction from 2019 to 2023 by the China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited (CEEC).

Project Background

NCWS-KDP is a project that has been on and off in the government’s major infrastructure list. The project has had a long history of proposals from the Philippine government dating back to the 1970s. It has not taken off the ground primarily because of issues relating to the environment and its socio-cultural implications. Initially, the dams were built in stages and under different financial schemes. Subsequently, the Duterte administration pursued the bigger, China-funded NCWS-KDP. A report in August 2020 mentions that “construction of the access road leading to the planned reservoir in General Nakar town in Quezon is underway”.

The NCWS-KDP will be funded from a combination of a loan agreement under an ODA from China and from the regular budget of the Philippine government. According to official statements, 85% of the project cost, or about P12.2 billion, will be financed by the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) under the Preferential Buyer’s Credit Loan Agreement on the NCWS-KDP. The project contractor is China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC). The project was initially planned to be financed under a public-private partnership, however, data indicates that only 11% of the projects, representing 4.5% of the total costs of the BBB program, are actually financed by PPPs.

The involvement of China in the project funding led to a petition before the Supreme Court asking for a declaration of the loan agreement illegal and void. But, Velasco asserts that the NCWS-KDP is a “done deal” despite the consultations that the MWSS has been portraying in public. The administration of Duterte appears determined to implement the NCWS-KDP project despite the opposition to the project.