Fisherfolk oppose coal plant in Misamis

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — In an effort to gather support for their opposition to the impending construction of a coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, hundreds of fisherfolk converged at the provincial capitol yesterday morning.

Carrying streamers and placards, around 200 fisherfolk, who came all the way from the affected municipalities of Villanueva, Balingasag and Tagoloan, led by the environment coalition Task Force Macajalar (TFM), denounced the $300-million project for health reasons.

TFM spokesperson BenCyrus Ellorin said the rally, which was also held to cheer provincial board members who are withdrawing their support to the project, was the first of a series of activities planned to oppose the 210-megawatt coal-fired power plant project.

The controversial coal-fired power plant had its groundbreaking last Jan. 30 with Energy Secretary Vincent Perez Jr. and officials of the National Power Corporation as guest.

But reports quoted Perez as saying that the coal-fired power plant, which proponents said will help meet the drastic power requirement of Mindanao in the coming years, is not enough to offset the power shortage projected to occur starting next year due to the lowering of water levels of the power source of the Napocor in Mindanao.

The coal-fired power plant is expected to be operational by December 2006. It is a joint venture of State Power Development Corp. and Steag AG, a leading independent power producer (IPP) in Germany.