Court extends Tepo vs coal plant in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The environmental court in Palawan decided on Thursday to extend a 72-hour temporary environmental protection order (Tepo) against the controversial coal plant project in Palawan.

The ruling was cause for celebration for a group of residents from the town of Aborlan, the proposed site of the coal plant, as it effectively stopped the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) from issuing a turnkey permit in its special meeting held also on Thursday.

Marlene Jagmis, a leader of the group “Save Aborlan from Evil,” which filed an injunction against PCSD on the coal project, said the ruling issued by RTC Branch 51 Judge Ambrosio de Luna will prevent the PCSD and other government agencies from issuing permits to the plant until the group’s complaint is resolved by the court.

“It’s an early Christmas gift for us. We will continue fighting until DMCI is gone from Aborlan and Palawan,” Jagmis told the Inquirer on Thursday.

The group announced it will hold a tribal ritual, “Runsay,” practiced by the indigenous communities of Palawan, on Dec. 18 as a thanksgiving event.

DMCI Powers, a subsidiary of the Consunji group, has won a 25-megawatt supply agreement with the local electric cooperative on a proposal to set up two coal-fired power plants in mainland Palawan.

Its initial plan to construct the first of the two plants was, however, rejected by the municipality of Narra, prompting the company to eye Aborlan as its alternative site.

The provincial government supports the coal plant project.