Groups continue fight vs coal-fired plants in Cebu, Tacloban rallies

Anticoal protesters gather at a rally in Cebu City to demand a stop to the construction and use of coal-fired power plants. —CHRISTIAN MANINGO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—Militant groups staged simultaneous, separate rallies in the cities of Cebu and Tacloban to protest the continued support being given by the Department of Energy (DOE) for coal energy.

Carrying placards to express opposition to coal, the protesters, with faces and bodies smeared with oil, assembled in front of the DOE Central Visayas office on Escario Street here.

In Tacloban City, members of the militant group Sanlakas converged at the RTR Plaza and marched some 500 meters to the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for a rally past 11 a.m.

Lawyer Aaron Pedrosa, secretary general of Sanlakas, said the government, through the DENR, should impose a moratorium on the issuance of environmental compliance certificates to new coal-fired power plants.

In this city, Sanlakas members urged the DOE to junk the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant of Ludo Power Corp. (LPC) in Sawang Calero village.

“It is about time for us to get rid of coal as a means of acquiring energy,” said Teody Navea, secretary general of Sanlakas in Cebu.

He called on the DOE to heed the plea of residents living near LPC and opposition expressed against the coal power plant by the Archdiocese of Cebu and Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Antonio Labios, regional DOE director, said the government welcomed additional sources of electricity.

But he said firms building power plants should first comply with requirements set by law.

They also need certificates of compliance from the Energy Regulatory Commission, Labios said.

No law in towns or cities hosting the plants should be violated, he said.

“There must be social acceptability,” the DOE official said. “Otherwise, if they (power plants) are not accepted by the people, then we cannot allow them to operate,” he added.

In April last year, the Cebu City council rejected the coal-fired power plant project in Sawang Calero, but the proponent, LPC, revived the proposal in December.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma also opposed the proposed coal power plant, calling on people to stop destroying the environment.

In Leyte, San Miguel Corp. Global Power Holdings Corp. had applied for and was granted a service contract by the provincial board to build a 200-MW coal power plant in Tabago town.

The plan, however, was strongly opposed by environmental groups and residents of the town.

Sanlakas’ Pedrosa said the 200-MW coal plant would be among 34 mostly coal power plants that the DOE wants to approve.