Gov’t warned vs getting stuck to coal power

DAVAO CITY—Groups opposing coal-fired power plants are asking the government to push for renewable energy solutions to the projected energy crisis next year.

Gerry Arances, national coordinator of Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), said the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) Law of 2001 is also to blame for the emerging crisis.

A nongovernment organization joined calls Thursday for green solutions to the crisis.

In a statement, the Bayan Mamamayan Abante Movement (BMAM) said it is lamentable that, in the discussion over the projected power crisis, there is no mention of the need to tap renewable energy sources.

“Let’s learn from the lessons of the past, when the need to protect the environment was not factored in when we were searching for solutions to address our electricity shortfalls,” said Bienvenido Abante, founder of BMAM and former legislator.

Abante said when emergency powers were tapped by former President Fidel Ramos to solve the energy crisis that confronted his administration, power plants mostly fueled by coal had been built but at the expense of the environment.

“I once again challenge our leaders to abandon dirty energy,” said Abante in the BMAM statement.

He said the government should seize the opportunity “not only to solve the power crisis, but to save the country from another threat—the health risks posed to the public by a polluted environment.”

Vice President Jejomar Binay earlier stressed on the need for green solutions to the projected power shortage.

In a recent forum here during a gathering of groups opposed to coal-fired plants, Arances, of PMCJ, said the Epira law, which President Aquino is now tapping for emergency powers, is the very cause of the crisis.

“It was Epira that facilitated the power crisis,” said Arances during the forum.

“After 10 years of Epira, we have the highest electricity rate in Asia, even higher than those of the United States and Japan,” he said.

Arances cited the government’s failure to rehabilitate the Agus-Pulangi hydropower complexes which supplied more than 50 percent of Mindanao’s power needs.

“Agus is running only at 30 to 32 percent of its capacity, which means it is not generating 500 to 600 megawatts of its installed capacity,” Arances said.

Arances said it was also Epira which facilitated the promotion of so many coal-fired power plants in the country, adding that 24 new coal-fired power projects are now being lined up nationwide under the Aquino administration.

“Our country is now a very friendly environment for coal,” Arances said, adding that Philippine laws have been so lopsided for coal mining. The government, he said, even offers 90 percent return on investment rate for companies that invest in coal. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao