Cebu youth ask Aquino to stop coal power plants

Sunstar Cebu

CEBU CITY -- Local youth advocates on Monday mailed a letter to President Benigno Aquino III, asking him to take action against coal power plant operations in the country.

They asked the President to order the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Energy and Department of Health (DOH) to draft concrete steps to address the hazardous effects of coal-fired power plants.

Kristian Jacob Abad Lora of the UP Luntian, an environmental group at the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu College, said they want to remind the President of his responsibility to uphold the people's right to health and a safe environment.

They cited a DOH memorandum, dated July 27, which reminds government officials of the harmful effects of coal-fired power plants. The memo was issued following a coal spill incident in Batangas City.

It said a coal spill can lead to, among others, decreased oxygen and decreased food availability and diversity.

Vince Cinches, coordinator of the Visayas Climate Action Network, said the DOH memo validates their call to stop the expansion of coal-fired power plants.

"Renewable energy is a cheaper alternative to coal-fired and nuclear power plants. This memo is a vindication for us. This is long overdue," he said.

Lora said local governments in Cebu and the DENR in the region have taken no action against coal-fired power plants despite the DOH memo.

He said they oppose the reported plan of Representative Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) to put up another coal-fired power plant at the South Road Properties.

Cinches said there is no shortage of energy in the country, but existing power plants are supplying less than they ought to. He said transmission, not generation of energy, is the main problem facing the power sector.

Jomar Colao, coordinator of the University of Cebu Banilad Community Extension, said local youth are calling for a safer environment.

"This is just one step. We can do more things," he said.

"We also request you to make sure that all the branches and offices of the government take environmental issues seriously and be environmental leaders by not just complying with environmental laws in their respective offices but by setting the initiatives and examples, such as putting up solar panels and wind turbines in government buildings and having compost facilities and segregating wastes," the letter read.

Cinches said they are inviting Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to a public debate with environmentalists.

"(Government officials) are not the only ones who should decide. The people ought to know about the issue, so they can decide for themselves what sources of energy they want," he said.

The DOH memo said coal dust from spills may contaminate bodies of water, affecting plants and organisms that depend on them.

"Current studies concluded that the coal dusts and ashes can cause contamination in surface waters and that accumulation of toxic contaminants in river sediment could poison the aquatic environment," the memo read.

"If the people are the President's boss, then he should listen to us," Lora said. (RSB of Sun.Star Cebu)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 19, 2010.