Community participation in development projects (a case study on the Calaca power project)

• Main Authors: Arceo, Joseph, Hernandez, Edaleen, Iledan, Ronald
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1993
• Subjects: Community development > Batangas; Environmental protection > Citizen participation; Social participation; Coal-fired power plants > Batangas
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/16199
• Institution: De La Salle University

This is a case study on community participation in Calaca where a coal power plant, a government development project, is located. The purpose of the study is to determine the nature and form of Calaca community participation in line with the events and activities that took place due to the construction of the coal power plant in the said community. Participation of sectors, e.g. Local Government Unit, Non-Government Organization, National Power Corporation, Department of Energy and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau, are determined along with the societal factors, e.g. political, economic, social that influenced the respective involvement of these sectors.Data provided by the key informants and documents revealed that Calaca community participation was sparked by the people's complaints from their assessed impact of the coal plant on the community's physical and social environment. This had also prompted the community's disapproval of the second development phase of the power plant.Through the LGU and NGO, the community host's sentiments and demands for development purposes were addressed to the project proponents NPC and DENR-EMB in the form of demonstrations, letters of petition, and dialogues. Coordination among these sectors had resulted in various agreements and led to the compliance of the project proponent NPC to meet people's demands, with the directive terms set by the DENR-EMB. This finally led to the acceptance of the second development phase by the community host. It also created a harmonious relationship between the Calaca community and the NPC as various community development projects were realized.Coordination among the LGU, NGO, NPC and DENR-EMB has been seen as effective in settling conflicts between the project proponent and the community host. Listening to the sentiments and demands of the community host is necessary in attaining smooth implementation of such a development project.