Environment group slams gov’t OK for DMCI Power-Palawan’s thermal plant

Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment on Thursday hit the clearance issued by the Department of Environment and Natural (DENR) to DMCI Power Corp.-Palawan’s proposed 15-megawatt  thermal power plant in Narra, Palawan.

Kalikasan PNE said the power plant “renews once again threats of pollution and biodiversity loss in the country’s last ecological frontier.”

The DENR recently issued an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for DMCI Power-Palawan’s 15 MW Circulating Fluidized Bed Thermal Power Plant project capable of utilizing renewable fuel or biomass. 

“DMCI’s coal plant once again rises from the grave and raises the specter of toxic pollution threatening public and ecological health in Palawan. Coal is undeniably the dirtiest source of energy and has no place in the country’s most biologically diverse yet fragile ecosystems. Any new coal power plant established is also one step further towards a runaway climate crisis,” Kalikasan PNE national coordinator Leon Dulce said.

The environmental group said the island province of Palawan is a “biodiversity haven,” citing various experts’ note, and is home to 1,600 species of fish, 600 species of invertebrates, 500 species of coral reefs, 279 species of birds, and various other forms of life.

“The constant bombardment of particulate matter, coal ash waste, waste water, and other pollutants from coal power plants will gravely disrupt the balance in Palawan’s ecosystems. There is no such thing as ‘clean coal’ that can fully mitigate the pollution produced by coal, especially its climate-disruptive greenhouse gas emissions,” Dulce said.

The project is the fourth attempt to establish a coal-fired power plant in Palawan.

Kalikasan PNE also  slammed the move of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi to designate the Palawan coal power project as an “Energy Project of National Significance,” saying “clean and renewable energy sources should be the priority in environmentally critical areas.”

“The only reason DMCI is hell-bent on pushing for coal is because they need a dumping ground for their surplus coal reserves from their Semirara coal mine. The public health and environmental safety of Palawenyos is being compromised in the name of profit interests by DMCI and its collaborationists in the Palawan local government,” Dulce said.

“Secretary Cusi should be held accountable for this latest instance of his dirty energy agenda as a coal apologist. Cusi and other public officials involved in these repeated attempts at railroading the Palawan coal plant and other dirty power projects must be investigated,” he said.

GMA News Online has contacted the Energy official for a statement but has not received any reply as of this posting. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News