Western Visayas Bishops issue Pastoral Letter opposing coal plants

By Erly C. Garcia

Eight Bishops from Western Visayas and Romblon recently signed a Pastoral Letter stating their strong objection to the entry of coal-fired power plant in Iloilo .

The Pastoral Letter distributed among all the Catholic dioceses in Western Visayas and Romblon called on all the faithful to heed the church's call in objecting coal-fired power plants and reaching out to government officials to sit down with the project's direct stakeholders.

It will be simultaneously read in various parishes and churches of the Jaro Archdiocese on February 20, 2005 .

In the Pastoral Letter, the Bishops likewise moved to call the attention of the Department of Energy (DOE) in what they said were conflicting statements and information from said department regarding the real power scenario of Panay island.

“What is the truth?  We doubt the reliability and truthfulness of the data dished out by the Department of Energy,” excerpts of the Pastoral letter stated.

Earlier, Governor Niel Tupas , Sr. in his State of the Province Address called on the people not to be carried away by the “half-baked information” on coal-fired power plant technology being presented by the protesters.

Msgr. Meliton “ Dodong ” Oso in a radio interview last week said that while they recognize the impending power shortage, the Bishops also believed in other alternatives.

“Coal we admit is a good energy source and cheap but we also have to consider findings that it contain volatile matters, heavy metals like mercury which has irreversible effects on human.  And recent studies show fly ashes containing radioactive material.  So the Bishops object coal-fired power plants anywhere in Negros and Panay islands,” Fr. Oso said.

The other renewable resources cited by Oso are wind, water and geothermal energies.

“In view of all these, we the Catholic Bishops in Panay and Negros categorically state that we are against the proposal and our preferential bias is for environment-friendly projects,” he continued.  “We also propose a multi- sectoral approach that will allow the direct stakeholder to sit down with the Department of Energy.”

To note, DOE has since laid down its Philippine energy plan that identified Negros island as a model for its renewable energy source development project.  The CBCP in this regard calls for the inclusion of Panay .

The Pastoral letter was signed following the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines meeting in Manila last January 16, 2005. 

Among the signatories were Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo , Archbishop Jose Romero Lazo of Kalibo , Bishop Vicente Navarra of Bacolod , Bishop Jose Advincula of San Carlos, Bishop Romulo de la Cruz of Antique and the Bishops of Capiz and Kabankalan .

Copies of the Pastoral letter were sent to all the parishes and churches of the Jaro Archdiocese including Malacañang , as well as concerned municipal and provincial officials of Iloilo .  

To note, two firms presently have pending proposals to put up coal-fired power plants in Iloilo .

DM Consunji applied for a coal power plant in Concepcion last October 2004 while Mirant Global applied in Barotac Viejo late last year.

In 2003 Kepco , a Korean electric company, applied in Ajuy but facing resistance from the municipal council they transferred to Banate where the Provincial Board rejected their application last March 2, 2004.

Meanwhile, as part of the continuing protest by environment groups against coal fired power plants riders from 23 cycling clubs and students' organizations held the Bike for the Environment last week.

The group pedaled 70 kilometers from the town of Banate to Concepcion to show concern on environmental degradation.

Aside from applications of coal-fired power plants, the north eastern part of Panay Island is threatened by applications of large-scale mining operations.

Current power demand of Panay Island is 210 megawatts while dependable capacity is 241 megawatts with a surplus of 31 megawatts. Energy Secretary Vince Perez projected that there will be an energy crisis in Panay by 2007. National Power Corporation (NPC) estimate a 7.8% increase per year in power demand.

The Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE) is questioning the projected energy crisis by 2007. In a statement, RISE said that Sec. Perez manipulated data to project a crisis because figures from NPC projections show that Panay will need 310 MW by 2013 which can be easily met by the targets of the Regional Development Council (RDC) of nearly 500 megawatts by that year.