DENR hails 10 firms for ‘green’ policies

MANILA, Philippines – Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Nestle Philippines, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum and Holcim Philippines led 10 companies whose facilities were recognized Thursday as the country’s most earth-friendly in 2012.

The companies were awarded the Official Seal of Approval by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for their efforts in incorporating green policies across their business platforms to help protect the environment, officials said on Thursday.

“The [winners] were chosen because of their exemplary environmental performance and for going beyond mere compliance with existing environmental laws and regulations,” Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said in a statement.

All the winners have not faced a single complaint at the DENR’s Pollution Adjudication Board in the past three years.

As a reward, the DENR will relax its rules on the submission requirements for reports, automatically extend the validity of permits, and ease procedures in securing environmental compliance certificates for their expansion projects, Paje said.

Environment Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi, along with Environmental Management Bureau Director Juan Miguel Cuna and Assistant Director Eva Ocfemia, handed out the awards in simple rites held at the DENR main office in Quezon City.

The awards are part of the DENR’s Philippine Environmental Partnership Program, which covers public and private industrial and commercial establishments, including agri-industrial facilities, manufacturing and commercial enterprises.

Paje said the program was put in place “as a way of expressing gratitude to companies committed to environmental protection through various business practices.”

“Their policies on self-monitoring and self-regulation deserve to be recognized and emulated by other companies,” he said.

The winners are Aboitiz Power Hedcor Sibulan Inc.-Davao del Sur; Coca-Cola plants in the provinces of Isabela, Ilocos Norte, La Union and Pangasinan; Green Core Geothermal, Inc.-Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant; Energy Development Corp.’s geothermal power fields in Kidapawan City and Leyte province; and Holcim’s plants in Lugait, Misamis Oriental and Norzagaray, Bulacan; Nestle’s Cagayan Distribution Center and factory in Pulilan, Bulacan; the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation-Isabela, Leyte; Pilipinas Shell’s Tacloban Terminal; Batangas Onshore Gas Refinery of Shell Philippines Malampaya B. V.; STEAG State Power, Inc.-Misamis Oriental; and Team Energy Corporation’s power stations in Pagbilao, Quezon and Sual, Pangasinan.

A total of 57 facilities of various companies have been awarded since the program started in 2009.