CA maintains opposition to coal plant project

MANILA--A three-man division of the Court of Appeals stood pat in its decision to stop the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Subic, Zambales due to defective permits.

Nullified by the CA 15th Division were the environmental compliance certificates (ECC) and the lease and development agreement of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy), a joint venture of Aboitiz Power,Taiwan Cogeneration Corp. and Meralco Power Gen Corp.

The Court scrapped the LDA with the SBMA and the ECC after RP Energy failed to secure a certification under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, which requires agencies to determine whether ancestral domains of IPs exist in a project area before issuing licenses or entering into agreements.

Also, the CA noted the project’s lack of approval of concerned local government units such as Cawag village in Subic, the city of Olongapo, province of Zambales, and some municipalities of Bataan which will be affected by the plant.

“[T]he ball is in the court of the respondents concerned, so to speak, to immediately take the appropriate measures directed towards their faithful compliance with all the legal procedures/requirements, as well as the rectification of the said various defects,” the CA said through Associate Justice Celia LibreaLeagogo.

However, petitioners led by Olongapo residents failed to convince the CA to reconsider its ruling not to issue a writ of kalikasan and temporary environmental protection order because the 600-megawatt power plant has yet to be built.

Terry Ridon, counsel for the petitioners, said they will appeal with the Supreme Court.

“It is an error, as it would be too late for citizens to intervene if actual environmental damage is required to be shown. Nonetheless we are satisfied with the ruling which nullified the ECCs and LDA of RP Energy,” he told Sun.Star.

Petitioners said that coal power can produce acid rain, air and water pollution from coal combustion waste, and affect the eco- logical balance in Subic and Olongapo in Zambales and the municipalities of Morong and Hermosa in Bataan.

The $1.28-billion project will have two highefficiency 300-megawatt (MW) units utilizing circulating fluidized-bed boiler designed to reduce carbon emissions. The first unit is supposed to go online by January 2015, and June 2015 for the second.