PUERTO PRINCESA CITY —DMCI Power Corp. (DPC), the proponent of the 15-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Palawan, is reportedly considering returning to Narra, in the southern part of the province, the project rejected by residents of the neighboring Aborlan town.
Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center (Elac) and Palawan Alliance for Clean Energy (PACE) said they have been informed that DPC is thinking of bringing back the coal-fired power-plant project to Narra, but in another barangay.
The barangay is San Isidro, she said, where officials and residents are reportedly open to the idea of hosting the coal-fired power plant.
It can be recalled that before Aborlan, DPC proposed the 15-MW coal power project in Barangay Panacan in Narra, where it met strong resistance from residents and non-governmental organizations concerned with the protection and preservation of the Philippine Cockatoo on Rasa Island.
Anda said that per information, the residents and barangay officials of San Isidro welcome the coal power project, but with some reservations.
According to what Elac and PACE have gathered, and based on “anecdotal evidence,” she said it appears that the residents and barangay officials are being influenced strongly to welcome the coal project.
On the proposal by DPC to construct the 15-MW coal-fired project in Aborlan, Anda said the temporary environment protection order (Tepo) issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Palawan remains, since it has not been lifted yet.
She said DPC has filed a motion to lift the Tepo, but Judge Ambrosio de Luna of Branch 52 of the RTC in Palawan has yet to resolve it.
In issuing the order, the court prevented the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development from issuing DPC a special permit for the coal-fired power plant in Aborlan.
PNA