Fact of the matter is
There's been a lot of fuss regarding the coal power plant proposal in the local news for months. Being an Ilonggo, I would just like to throw in my own opinion on the facts we are currently facing.
Fact – Iloilo has been having regular power outages due to an unstable supply of electricity from the Panay Electric Company (PECO).
Fact - Potential businesses such as call centers have pulled out from investing in Iloilo due to the unstable power. These businesses would have provided thousands of jobs to Ilonggos and in effect would also have boosted up the economy of our province (yep, i said it... prrrrovince).
Fact – GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL (and not the work of the devil, as some people would like to believe. "Hey! I think we messed up the planet!" "No we didn't... it was the DEVIL!" hahaha!... anyway...)
Fact – We use electricity. Our present way of life has been revolving around it.
Fact – We need a new source of power soon. (actually, we needed it yesterday.)
Fact – The Coal Power plant is harmful to the environment (duh!). I've seen a lot of very well written articles and intellectually stimulating debates on the topic and I, personally, believe that this should be a closed case. We've been dwelling on this subject long enough. (Coal Power - Bad).
Fact – For years PECO has been using petrol to power the city.
Fact – Petrol is also as harmful or even more harmful to the environment (but freakishly more expensive) yet I haven't heard as much as a whisper contesting its effects (hmmm... why stay dormant all these years folks?).
Fact – No one has given a single plausible suggestion as to what other alternative energy source our city would run on after we've depleted all we've got.
NOTE: Hamsters running on wheels, no matter what you're on, isn't a great idea... so don't even think about it! Also, there are no 500ft Alkaline batteries... I was pretty disappointed to find that one out myself.
We've been bombarded with the harmful effects of the coal power plant that we've neglected to see its potential benefits to our community (yep, I said "benefits" and it does have a couple of them). We'd have a more cost efficient and a much more reliable source of energy. We'd have more investors and more jobs for the ilonggos, which in turn would help our economy. I, personally, don't want to live in a tent with scented candles and a match stick. We don't need a second Spanish Inquisition.
I've seen the people objecting to the power plant proposal and I don't see them riding horses to work because automobiles emit a harmful gas that destroys the ozone and using typewriters 'cus computers run on... hmmm... I forgot the word but it starts with "e" and ends with a "y". I don't see them using pigeons to communicate with other people because phones and cellular phones are charged by... what's that "e" word again? My point is this my friends, we rely on electricity to continue our present way of life. So, unless anyone has any ratiocinative alternatives for power... why not give it a go? Worst case scenario is we'd still be doing the same thing to the environment that we are now but we'd be helping out our fellow Ilonggos and our beautiful Iloilo in the process.
I saw Al Gores "Inconvenient Truth" and I loved it. It was inconvenient but true. We really are in a lot of trouble and we should do something about it. He even won the Nobel Peace Prize, and I couldn't be happier for him... he really deserves it... even if he did fly in on his own private jet. Guess what it runs on... it's not solar powered I'll give you that.
—Name withheld upon request