The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) says the sale of Angat Dam does not mean absolute control of the water by any private corporation since government is mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to protect water for household consumption and irrigation.

In its advisory dated November 9, 2009, CHR said the strategic value of the Angat Hydroelection Power Plant (AHEPP) lies in the fact that it supplies 97 percent of the water consumed in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Of the estimated 12 million people in the NCR, 82.2 percent or 9.84 million depend on water from Angat.

A total of 31,000 hectares of land in 20 towns in Bulacan and Pampanga are irrigated by Angat, which also acts as a controller of floods, CHR said.

"Incidentally, it is the last among the hydro-electric power facilities owned and controlled by the National Power Corp. (Napocor) to be privatized," the commission hastened to add.

EPIRA, also known as Republic Act 9136, says it is the declared policy of the state to “promote the utilization of indigenous, new and renewable energy resources in power generation in order to reduce dependence on imported energy” and “to provide for an orderly and transparent privatization of assets and liabilities of the Napocor."

The law exempts the assets of the Small Power Utility Group (SPUG) from privatization but mandates the government to sell the generation assets, real estate, and other disposable assets as well as Independent Power Producers (IPPs) contracts with the Napocor.

Most importantly, the same law says that in cases of transfer of possession, control, operation or privatization of multi-purpose hydro facilities, safeguards shall be prescribed to ensure that the national government may direct water usage in cases of shortage to protect potable water, irrigation and other requirement imbued with public interest.

CHR said the impending privatization of Angat by the NPC has been opposed by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and local government units (LGUs) in Quezon City, Manila, Taguig City, Makati City, Pasig City, Antipolo City, Paranaque City, Muntinlupa City and the municipalities of Pateros, Cainta, Tatay, San Mateo, and Rodriguez, all in Rizal, and the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) under Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos.

"The MWSS position that the privatization of the Angat Hydro Electric Power Plant will put the reliability of water supply for Metro Manila at risk, stressing the following facts: The Angat Reservoir is the single source of water supply for Metro Manila; Angat Reservoir is the only NPC facility being used for domestic water supply; NPC’s series of violations of the National Water Regulation Board’s approved guidelines create operational problem to MWSS and destroy crops for National Irrigation Authority (NIA). Recent overflows at Ipo and Bustos Dam are results of power generation and power generation is a byproduct of the water releases to MWSS and NIA. The peaking time of power generation does not coincide with water supply demand requirements," CHR said.