GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines— Hundreds of people, forgoing their fiesta mood for a while, marched on the streets of Maasim, a coastal town in Sarangani, to show their opposition to a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant on their shore.

“We will not allow any destruction of our environment and our people,” said Winefreda Olbes, head of the Maasim People’s Coalition on Climate Change (MP3C) which spearheaded the rally.

Construction of the power facility in Sitio (Sub-village) Tampuan, Barangay (Village) Kamanga was scheduled to start in the third quarter, but its proponent, Conal Holdings Corp. (CHC), recently announced that it would be early next year. The company is owned by the family of Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez.

Environmentalists fear that the project will displace thousands of residents and destroy the Tinto-Tampuan Reef within the Kamanga Marine Protected Area.

CHC officials have given assurance that they would strictly comply with environmental laws and employ the latest technology to prevent pollution or harm to public health.

Reforestation

They have even vowed to reforest around 7,500 hectares of land near the project to serve as carbon sink.

One of the protest leaders, Fr. Emerardo Maningo, said most of the residents were against the proposed facility. “They expressed their active support in many discreet and effective ways,” he said.

The placard-bearing marchers converged at the Santa Cruz Parish for an intercultural, inter-religious prayer service led by Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez.

Olbes said the prayer-rally showed their commitment to preserve God’s creation and their opposition to the coal-fired plant.

Among those who joined were the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), Bikers for Environment, and several Catholic lay leaders.

They marched to the plaza where the rally was held.

Fr. Romeo Catedral, head of the social action center of the Diocese of Marbel, placed the number of marchers at 5,000, but Mayor Anecito Lopez Jr., a known supporter of the project, put it at 1,500.

MP3C initiated the signing of a document titled “Kasabutan tali sa Ginoo ug sa Katawhan sa Maasim (Covenant between God and the People of Maasim).”

Support for the covenant was “overwhelming,” Maningo said. “Even our Muslim brethren and the indigenous communities joined us.”

On Sunday, environmentalist and human rights advocate priest Amado “Pix” Picardal and five other bikers traveled 117 kilometers from Davao City to General Santos City to protest the Kamanga project.