Women in forefront of anticoal drive in Palawan town

BARANGAY captain Grace Dantic of San Juan, Aborlan, where DMCI plans to relocate its coal plant project, is “anticoal” but admits she is taking strong pressure from Palawan Gov. Jose Alvarez to support the controversial project. REDEMPTO D. ANDA/INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

ABORLAN, Southern Palawan—After abandoning its original plan to put up a 15-megawatt coal-fired power facility in the adjoining town of Narra due to intense local opposition headed by its mayor, the Consunji group’s DMCI Powers Inc. has again found itself ranged against mostly women anticoal campaigners in this municipality.

A village council dominated by women, academics from the state-run Western Philippines University (WPU) and relatives of this town’s fallen hero

Dr. Gerry Ortega are leading the snowballing campaign against a proposed coal-fired power plant here.

Grace Dantic, barangay captain of San Juan, where DMCI plans to construct the power plant, told the Inquirer that the majority of her constituents and their women-dominated village council was opposed to hosting the coal plant.

“The truth is that most of our constituents don’t want the plant to be put up here. But we will allow DMCI to conduct its information campaign,” Dantic said in Tagalog.

The local Catholic Church, headed by its parish priest

Fr. Armando Limsa, has put up tarpaulins around town calling for opposition to the plant, citing its adverse health effects and its threat to the environment.

DMCI, in a letter addressed to the barangay council, has expressed interest in finding a suitable place within the coastal village to put up the plant. It had recently scuttled early plans to set up the facility in Narra after the municipality, headed by Mayor Lucena Demaala, refused to endorse the project.

“As a woman leader, I have an obligation to our people, especially to the women and children, to protect them from the ill effects of the emission of the coal power plant,” Demaala had said.

DMCI then decided to head for neighboring Aborlan and began efforts to solicit support from the local community, holding a series of meetings in its coastal villages.

WPU officials have lamented that the provincial government, headed by Gov. Jose Alvarez, is campaigning for support to the coal plant.

Provincial information officer Gil Acosta confirmed in a radio interview that Alvarez personally spoke with local officials in Aborlan to solicit local endorsement of the coal plant project.

“This was because of the governor’s strong position that we urgently need additional power supply to spur growth,” he said in Filipino, in an interview with local radio station dwAR.

On Monday, the administration of WPU, which is located in Barangay San Juan, submitted its position paper to the municipal council of Aborlan opposing the coal plant project.

Dr. Lita Sopsop, dean of the WPU College of Arts and Sciences, warned the municipal council of the proposed plant’s pollution impact on health and the towns marine resources.

“The project threatens our sole marine sanctuary. We can only hope the municipal council will reject it,” Sopsop said.

The women relatives of murdered journalist and anticorruption campaigner Ortega, including his family, who lives in Aborlan, launched this week an online campaign against the coal plant in a bid to pressure local officials not to allow the project.

“If Kuya Gerry were alive today, he’ll be in the forefront of this campaign,” Ortega’s younger sister, Angela, said.

“We vehemently reject the building of any structure that will snatch away our health, our life and our children’s future,” she added.

The Palawan Electric Cooperative, which awarded DMCI a 25-MW supply contract following an open technology bidding, said DMCI could not meet its mandated schedule to start operations because of its failure to secure permits.

While DMCI had previously secured the support of most political leaders of the province, including the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, which issues a special clearance to all environmentally sensitive projects in the province, it has yet to hurdle the opposition in the communities.