QUEZON City, Philippines – GROUPS from Zambales, together with Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), filed a complaint at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), today, October 18, 2024, in its main office at Visayas Avenue. This is to oppose the Masinloc Power Plant Expansion Project (Unit 4 increase in capacity, and Unit 5 expansion) of Masinloc Power Partners Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp. Global Power (SGMP).
Last September, PMCJ and communities in Masinloc slammed Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr. for his endorsement of the said SMGP expansion projects, with 350 MW in capacity each. Residents and local groups have been laying out the necessary arguments, documents, and legalities, and keeping the decades-long fight against SMGP’s coal plants as it continues to disrupt their livelihood and endangers their health.
“Kung sa ngayon pa lang ay nanganganib na ang bansa sa maraming sakuna, ang dagdag pang planta na lalong magpapainit ng klima ay hindi lang kawalan ng katinuan, ito ay pagpapatiwakal. […] Masahol pa, ang mga plantang ito na sumisira sa kalikasan ay nakatayo pa mismo sa Oyon Bay, na katumbas ay buhay ng mga mangingisda, kaya ito ay isang deklaradong Protected Area,” said Dr. Benito Molino of Zambales Lingap Kalikasan (ZALIKA).
Environmental organizations have been amplifying their concerns since 2018 as large tracts of coral and marine life in Masinloc Bay were destroyed during construction of the Masinloc expansion. Since the coal-fired power plant’s unapproved large reclamation operations in Masinloc town breached multiple requirements of the 1992 National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, groups said that it must be promptly terminated.
Coal has proved to be an unreliable source of energy. The ERC presented a report in June 2021 at the House Committee on Energy hearing, naming the power plant units that had issued successive red alarms in May 2021, resulting in cyclic brownouts in Metro Manila and other areas of Luzon. The ERC named the main power companies responsible for the declining supply as AboitizPower, San Miguel Corporation, Team Energy, and DMCI Holdings in their study.
“The Masinloc coal plant expansion project exposes the [Philippine] Government’s persistent deadly addiction to coal despite declarations and commitment to shift to renewable energy according to its own Energy Plan and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The 2020 coal moratorium is clearly a farce. Instead of moving forward, the Marcos Jr.
Government is marching us back into the past condemning and locking us into decades of dirty, deadly and costly coal energy. We continue to challenge the officialdom’s unrelenting pro-coal position as lives and livelihoods are at stake evidenced by the harms experienced by affected communities in Masinloc. Why is the Government so hell-bent in pursuing new coal projects when the country has more than 800,000 MW untapped renewable energy potential?” said Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, Secretary-General of Sanlakas.
Zambaleños are one with this year’s week of action to demand the World Bank (WB) to end its fossil fuel financing. This is also to mark the 7th year of the landmark complaint filed by PMCJ to the WB’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
ccording to the complaint, the IFC provided financial support to Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation in order to fund coal projects that included the expansion of the Masinloc Power Partners in 2015. 7 years later, the expansion of the Masinloc coal plant continued and the communities faced the worst situation that it was.| PR
