Philippines: NCP complaint filed in South Korea over Jalaur Mega-Dam - Tumandok communities demand accountability for human rights abuses
In August 2025, the Jalaur River for the People’s Movement (JRPM) and Tumandok communities filed formal complaints in South Korea concerning the implementation of the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Stage II. The financiers of the project were Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM Bank) and the contractor and executor of the Project at the time was the Korean company Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. (DAEWOO). The complaints alleged grave violations of OECD Guidelines, including failures in human rights due diligence, complicity in forced displacement, environmental destruction, and abuses linked to militarization, surveillance, inadequate Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes, and the killing of nine Indigenous leaders by police in December 2020.
The filings argue that Daewoo maintained its business relationship despite widespread harm and that KEXIM breached safeguard obligations by funding the project despite known risks. JRPM also raised concerns over contractor withdrawal, project cost inflation, and governance failures, urging transparency, independent review, and accountability both from the Philippine authorities and the Korean institutions. BHRC invited Daewoo Engineering & Construction and KEXIM to respond regarding the complaint; they did not.