THE environment group Greenpeace, together with several legislators, on Wednesday urged the government to adopt a national energy program that would harness the massive renewable- energy potentials of the country while reducing its dependence on dirty energy resources, particularly coal.

In a press briefing, Greenpeace hailed the commitment of several legislators like Sens. Miguel Zubiri and Pia Cayetano to sponsor anticoal resolutions calling for the phaseout of coal-fired power plants.

“Unless the administration is able to discard its deadly and expensive fixation on coal power, then the dark days are, indeed, looming ahead not only for the Philippine energy sector, but also for vulnerable communities in the country that stand to bear the brunt of severe climate impacts,” said Von Hernandez, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

“If this government manages to go beyond its short-sighted views on the matter, it will come to realize that resources are better invested in clean and renewable-energy solutions now, rather than in dirty systems which represent heavy liabilities for the public now and into the future. We must break free from this dirty energy cycle,” he added.

In a resolution filed on Wednesday, Cayetano called on Malacañang to adopt a program promoting less dependence on coal and encouraging a shift toward renewable energy.

“The Philippine government must reduce dependence on coal plants by adopting an energy program that would phase out over a period of time the utilization of power from coal plants and would no longer allow the construction or expansion of coal plants in the country,” she said.

Renewable-energy technologies range from solar energy, wind power, hydroelectricity, micro-hydro, biomass and biofuels for transportation.

The Senate Resolution 420 directs the upper house’s committees on energy, and on environment and natural resources to inquire, in aid of legislation, on the impact of coal- fired power plants on the environment.

Zubiri said it is the fourth time in 10 years the renewable-energy bill has been languishing in Congress. Despite its certification by President Arroyo as an urgent measure, the senator said its passage has not really seen much progress.

“Since Congress reconvened on April 28, the bill has yet to be tackled again on the floor in both houses of Congress. Despite the well-known potential of renewable energy in the Philippines, the expansion of coal- fired power plants in the country has shot up to over 2,000 megawatts (MW), while renewable-energy projects so far only reaches up to less than 100 MW,” he added.

Jasper Inventor, Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner, said the passing of the bill would ensure the country’s energy security and help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.

“The days of cheap coal have ended. Since 2002, the price of coal has increased by as much as five times from $30 per ton to as much as $60 per ton today. Future projections of the price of coal reach only to $95 per metric ton by 2050,” Inventor said.

There are currently eight coal-fired power plants in the Philippines with a total capacity of 4,177 mW— equivalent to about 26 percent of the country’s installed power generation capacity—with nine more plants lined up for construction or expansion.

AI notes dramatic decrease in human-rights violations

AMNESTY International (AI) on Wednesday noted the “dramatic decrease in the number of victims of extrajudicial killings in 2007 compared with the previous records in 2005 and 2006.”

FORMER elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. was a no-show on Wednesday’s continuation of the hearing on the controversial $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Co. at the Office of the Ombudsman, creating tension among lawyers of the contending parties.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Law Enforcement Department (SBMA-LED) and Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group-Task Force Subic (PASG-TFS) agents confiscated some P4.62 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu after a foiled attempt to smuggle the illegal drugs into Subic.

A PALL of gloom descended over the House of Representatives on Wednesday as the body of labor leader and party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran, more popularly known as Ka Bel, of Anakpawis lay at the plenary hall where a Mass and necrological service were held before the militant legislator was laid to rest in Bulacan.

TO mitigate the effects of the skyrocketing price of petroleum products on the country’s economy, legislators have proposed the implementation of energy-conservation measures such as carpooling and reducing government working days to four.

THE environment group Greenpeace, together with several legislators, on Wednesday urged the government to adopt a national energy program that would harness the massive renewable- energy potentials of the country while reducing its dependence on dirty energy resources, particularly coal.

THE Swedish minister for migration and asylum, Tobias Billstrom, said his government is working with other Schengen member-countries of the European Union in their embassies in Manila to accept and process short-stay visas to Sweden, amid possible constraints on the visa application of Filipinos traveling that country owing to the closure of its embassy here starting next month.

THE appointment of former Armed Forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon as head of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process may adversely affect the ongoing peace process, citing the military official’s bad human-rights record.