Groups belonging to the Save Sual Movement (SSM) and the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) on Monday urged the municipal government of Sual to set aside the proposed 1,000 megawatts (MW) coal-fired power plant by Korean Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).
Members of SSM were dismayed when a scheduled meeting between members of the Sangguniang Bayan of Sual and representatives of KEPCO was suddenly canceled. They were supposed to attend the public hearing to register their opposition to the project prompting the group to make their opposition to the project public through social media.
“Since 1996, we have lived with the smoke and pollution of the Sual Power Station, causing much suffering and health problems among the residents. Now, it seems like another power plant will be built, trading the health of residents and of the environment in exchange for dubious economic benefits,” Rosanna Soriano, president of SSM, said in a statement posted in a Facebook page dubbed Save Sual Movement.
Soriano added that residents of Sual are unwilling to sacrifice their environment for another coal power plant, which they do not even need as a town with an electricity demand of only 10 MW.
“Humanity cannot live except in harmony with nature. Nature has been entrusted to humanity like a garden to be cultivated with care, not for the use or misuse of a few,” she said.
Residents of Sual said their local officials were initially against the existing coal power plant, but they are worried that the mayor and the council may have made an “about-face.”
“The residents of Sual are entitled to express their opinions in a public hearing. More than the officials, it is the ordinary people of Sual who would be affected in terms of their health and traditional livelihood by the power plant. And with the climate crisis, we are all facing, the government of Sual must already drop all ideas and plans of building coal-fired power plants,” Ian Rivera, National Coordinator of PMCJ, said.
The consent of the local government, unit is a requirement for the construction of any coal-fired power plant, after proper consultation with stakeholders.
“Any coal power project with a capacity of 30 MW or higher is considered to be environmentally critical. With an installed capacity of 1,000 MW, the proposed coal plant is one of the biggest power projects in the national pipeline, which could have significant adverse environmental impacts.
Under the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Process and the Local Government Code, KEPCO and Sual municipal government should ensure timely and well-informed public participation of all stakeholders, especially the affected community, in all discussions,” said Avril de Torres, head of the Research, Policy, and Law Program of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), a sustainable development think-tank.
In a letter to Calugay, Rivera also informed the mayor of efforts by the South Korean legislature to move the Korean government away from further investments in coal and asked if KEPCO has informed the council of these developments.
“Even the South Korean Government has been mulling withdrawal from coal investment and expansion. At the June 16 Trade, Industry and Energy Committee hearing in South Korea, South Korean legislators pressed for more ambitious targets to veer the country away from coal,” Rivera said in his letter.
“They have criticized their Government and KEPCO’s financing of coal projects arguing that this is further exacerbating climate change. Any policy redirection will adversely affect South Korean overseas coal investments including KEPCO’s existing and prospective projects in the Philippines.”
