Residents hail decision halting construction of coal plant in Subic

SUBIC BAY Freeport, Philippines -  Residents here hailed the Court of Appeals' decision  affirming an earlier ruling  to stop the 600-megawatt coal-fired power plant project of Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RPEI) inside the Freeport zone.

The CA resolution rejected the motion for reconsideration field by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), RPEI, and  the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on the court’s ruling last Jan 30.

The decision denied the Motion for Reconsideration filed by RPEI and invalidated two major requirements for the coal plant project to push through, namely: the Lease Development Agreement with the SBMA and the Environmental Compliance Certificate, including its amendments, issued by the DENR.

Gregorio Magdaraog, president of the Subic Bay Chamber for Health & Environment Conservation (SBF-CHEC) said: “A day of delay for RP Energy Inc. is another day of victory for the environment.”

In a statement Magdaraog said the stakeholders expect SBMA to finally stop the on-going site development.  “RPEI has no legal right to continue site development in Redondo Peninsula. They have no valid LDA and ECC. SBMA should furnish us a copy of the site inspection report as promised,” he said.

“We call on the SBMA board of directors to uphold and honour the results of the Social Acceptability Process (SAP) which they themselves initiated and reported to the President that overwhelmingly rejected the proposed coal-fired power plant project,” he added.

SBMA Chairman Roberto Garcia said that he had contested the CA decision based on the ruling that SBMA did not get an approval from the LGU.

He said that if that is the CA’s reason to void the LDA, then it would set a precedent on locating inside the freeport.

“I contested that ruling based on that reason alone,” Garcia said.

RPEI in a statement said that it could not comment on the decision since it has  yet to receive a copy of it.