Locals were wary of the destructive implications of the project, having heard of or witnessed the devastating effects of the Binga and Ambuklao dams to the minorities of Benguet.
[6][1] The plan involved the construction of four dams along the Chico River:[7] The technical feasibility study was submitted by Lahmeyer in June 1973 without prior consultation with the indigenous population that was to be displaced by the project.
Said population only learned of the study in 1974, when the Marcos government started conducting surveys in preparation for the construction of Chico Dams II and IV.
An additional P 38,250,000 worth of rice fields farmed by the residents of Bangad, Lubuagan, Dangtalan, Guinaang, and Naneng would also be flooded, even if the villages themselves would not be submerged.
[9] The conference resulted in an agreement (Pagta ti Bodong) which formally united the Bontoc and Kalinga peoples in opposition against the Marcos dam project.
848 in December 1975, constituting the municipalities of Lubuagan, Tinglayan, Tanudan, and Pasil into a "Kalinga Special Development Region" (KSDR),[13] in an effort to neutralize opposition to the Chico IV dam.
[6] In 1977, numerous opposition leaders—including tribal leaders Lumbaya Aliga Gayudan,[14] Macli-ing Dulag,[9] and even a 12-year-old child [6]—were rounded up by these forces and incarcerated for up to two months.
[9] On 24 April 1980, armed forces under the command of then-President Ferdinand Marcos—identified in the press as elements from 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army[15]—opened fire on Dulag at his home, killing him instantly.
[16] Macli-ing's murder unified the various peoples of the Cordillera Mountains against the proposed dam, causing both the World Bank and the Marcos regime to eventually abandon the project a few years after.
[17] The names of Macli-ing Dulag, Pedro Dungoc, and Ama Lumbaya Gayudan, fellow Kalinga leader of the opposition movement, have since been inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani (Monument of Heroes) in Quezon City, Metro Manila, which is dedicated to the martyrs and heroes who fought against the abuses that took place during the Philippines under the Marcos Martial Law era.