Coal plant foes bring fight to Facebook

Opponents of the proposed Subic coal-fired power plant have taken their battle online and have drawn support through social networking site Facebook.

They described the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s (SBMA) coal plant project as a “wang-wang” deal, in an online open letter to President Aquino.

Mr. Aquino had used as a symbol of his good governance agenda his aghast over unauthorized users of sirens, known in local lingo as “wang-wang,” which he had tagged in his inaugural address as the clearest form of abuse by the high and mighty.

The Facebook open letter urged Mr. Aquino to order agencies reviewing the project for approval to reject it or move its site elsewhere.

SBMA Chair Roberto Garcia said RP Energy, the consortium proposing the coal power plant, was in the “due diligence stage” of a process that requires community acceptance.

Garcia said Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), a consortium member, has explained its position to the Zambales provincial board and the Subic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which are “still evaluating their data.”

Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras earlier endorsed the project, saying it would help generate additional electricity for the Luzon grid.

The social acceptability process, said a source in SBMA, was likely to start on Nov. 22 and end on Dec. 10. Community representatives, workers and indigenous groups are expected to provide insights on the coal plant proposal during that time.

The online campaign said RP Energy—composed of Aboitiz Power Corp., Taiwan Cogen Corp. and Meralco—would pay only P1 million per year to use 40 hectares of a prime piece of lot inside the freeport while local taxes paid every year by other power plants, like that in Masinloc, Zambales, reach P500 million.