The author visited a community of indigenous people in Sitio Bohoy, Bataraza as part of a research project on forest ecosystem. He was amazed at what he saw. A simple but working hydroelectric power plant was built out of the ingenuity of a Palaw'an, one of the indigenous people of Palawan in the Philippines.
How Boyet and Friends Built the Dam
According to Boyet, a descendant of the Palaw'an tribe in the hinterlands of southern Palawan, he saw on television a hydroelectric power plant and how water generates electricity. Inspired by what he saw, he immediately put his own idea of a local version of a hydroelectric power plant to work in his place.
Together with some friends, Boyet gathered scrap materials from the material recovery facility (MRF) of a mining company operating nearby Sitio Bohoy, their place of abode. The materials gathered for his hydroelectric power plant consisted of corrugated PVC and GI pipes, corrugated GI roofing sheets, the rubber interior of dump truck tires, old folding beds, nails, plastic tubes, among others. To maintain water flow in the pipes and keep the turbine running, Boyet with a group of hired hands built the makeshift dam for several days. The dam is made of sacks and some sturdy wood sourced from the surrounding forest. The wooden poles and sticks were nailed at an angle sufficient enough to keep the old, corrugated GI sheets and sacks upright and maintain a water height of barely a meter (0.89m). In between two sections of these support blocking the water flow, Boyet and his group filled the gap with gravel and sand.
He installed about a hundred meters of the corrugated pipes midstream by tying together the 3 to 6 inch diameter plastic pipes with rubber interiors. The pipework served as water channel for the water impounded behind the makeshift dam to generate potential energy. When enough water height has been achieved, Boyet would release the water throught the pipes. At some points, water leaks through the joints but most of the pressurized water are contained in the pipes. The surge of water goes to the improvised turbine downstream. Once the turbine gains enough momentum in a few seconds, an electric generator connected by a series of cables produces electricity. Boyet explained that the electric generator is his only significant purchase at PhP6,500 (ca. $150).
Boyet with his improvised mini-hydro electric plant system.
The mini-hydro plant system that impounds water flowing in the stream.
The whole system can produce electricity enough to supply 15 houses of his fellow Palaw'ans who would pay him Php100 (ca. $2) each month to help replace the disposable parts of the electric generator like cables that connects the turbine and the generator. Two of these cables have to be replaced about once a month, at Php450 (ca. $10). The payments made by fellow indigenous people barely maintain the system because many of them are poor. Boyet noted that in reality, only 9 out of 15 households of indigenous people pay him regularly.
Having produced electric power provided the indigenous people the opportunity to see the latest news on television as well as enjoy "karaoke" or sing-along joints just like what the lowlanders do. Despite their ragged, unkempt appearance the indigenous people have the luxury of modern life high up along the slopes of a hill. You wouldn't suspect they are those indigenous people who many people think still live in isolation from the rest of the world.
Other Uses of the Pooled Water in the Dam
Aside from the electricity generated by the small hydroelectric power plant, the waters channeled through the pipes serve other uses. Some of those waters are diverted to the indigenous people's "kaingin" or slash-and-burn farms through small tubes jutting out of the large pipes. Some of the water are diverted to feed small fish ponds. At the other end, water is supplied to a ditch dug around the small sari-sari (mixed goods) store akin to a small moat, which prevents ants from spoiling packs of sugar stored in it.
A small tube juts out of the main pipe to supply water to the farm (left), fishpond (middle), and the store with water (right).
After this simple hydroelectric power plant operated satisfactorily for a year and five months, a much modern small hydroelectric power plant was built at upper regions of the same river by the mining company. The new hydroelectric power plant lessened the volume of water that fed the turbine of the makeshift hydroelectric power plant by the indigenous people. Now, the indigenous people have to content themselves with limited electricity as the dam can sustain water enough to supply electricity only up to about 10 o'clock in the evening.
Distinct Way of Life of the Palaw'ans is Gone
The ingenuity demonstrated by a member of indigenous people in remote areas like Sitio Bohoy has two implications. One, it is a good thing that the indigenous people are able to cope with changes in their environment particularly since their activities now approximate that of the lowlander. Second, this also shows that these indigenous people may no longer be considered as indigenous because they are living like anybody else in the modern world. Acculturation has pervaded the life of the tribe. Their distinct way of life has long been gone.
Source: Modified from Ingenuity by Indigenous People: Hydroelectric Power Plant Using Scrap Materials
©19 March 2011 Patrick A. Regoniel@Palawaniana.net