SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines—Residents and businessmen at Subic Bay Freeport in Pampanga, as well as officials of communities surrounding the economic zone, said they do not want a coal-fired power plant in their midst.
The plant, pushed for by a consortium of energy companies led by Aboitiz Power, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Taiwan Cogen Corp., was rejected by these groups during a series of consultations held in December last year, officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said.
In a report submitted to President Aquino this week, the SBMA, which completed the social acceptability process (SAP) on the proposed 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant of RP Energy Inc. (RPEI), the consortium’s corporate vehicle, said the project was clearly rejected by stakeholders in the free port.
“All across the stakeholder groups that participated in the process was a clear rejection of the coal-fired [power plant] project while the expert resource persons shared deep concerns over the deficiencies of the environmental impact assessment study used by the project proponent to secure the environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2008,” the report said.
About 155 representatives of the six major stakeholder groups in the free port—local governments, business locators, tourism locators, free port residents, landowners (indigenous peoples/Aetas) and free port workers—took part in the consultation process from December 7 to 9.
RPEI representatives, however, did not join the consultations.
The SAP report said: “While each stakeholder group was generally well-represented, certain groups were not present during the three-day series of consultations. Foremost and most noticeable was the absence of any representatives from RPEI, the major proponent of the project. There was also no representation from the Subic Bay Freeport Chamber of Commerce and the [town] of Subic, Zambales.”
Earlier, Raymond Cunningham, first vice president for business development of Aboitiz Power and member of RPEI’s steering committee, said there was little opposition to the coal plant.
“If we are convinced that the overwhelming majority of people in this area do not want the project, we would go away,” Cunningham said.
But the SAP report said “the overall persuasion of the participants [in the consultation process] was a clear aversion to the concept of an operational coal-fired power plant.”
“Taken as a whole, their concerns ranged from environmental to health to economic and sociocultural factors,” it said.
SBMA director Philip Camara, who led the SAP for the agency, said the SBMA board would consider the views cited by stakeholders as it reviews its lease contract and permits.
“The social acceptability process has made it clear that they (coal-fired plant) are not welcome here,” he said.
Representatives of the local governments in Zambales and Bataan expressed their apprehension over the lack of direct financial benefits to their communities and the apparent health risks from the plant’s operations.
The SAP report said free port residents voiced out strong opposition to the project, saying the potential health risks “would be a strong disincentive to present and future free port residents.”
“They also criticized the project as violating the ecological and economic credo that the SBMA has been advocating since its founding,” it said.
The Aeta communities, as registered landowners within the free port, “voiced their unease at the possibility of being affected by acid rain potentially triggered by the operation of the power plant,” the report said.
“Their main contention was the potential contamination of their water supply and the degradation and eventual ruin of the dipterocarp rainforests and the contiguous areas, which are the primary source of their livelihood,” it added. The Aeta communities survive largely on hunting, fishing, honey-gathering and farming.
Tourism-related businesses denounced the power plant project due to its potential impact on the local tourism industry.
“Among other facts, they [said] the toxic air and liquid discharge that would emit from the power plant would pose hazards to tourists in the area and in time, diminish the viability of Subic Bay as a tourist destination. They also [said] the coal ash ponds and dump would contaminate the bay,” the report said.