Duterte’s Soca mum on Davao coal-fired plant

Business Mirror
WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2011 18:07 KEITH BACONGCO / CORRESPONDENT


DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte’s second State of the City Address (Soca) on Tuesday was mum on the controversial coal-fired power plant even while she expressed her opposition to mining projects, saying that mining’s extraction activities will bring more problems than solutions.
But the environmentalist group Panalipdan Mindanao perceives this as an inconsistent stand of the city government for the environment. The group said it expected to hear the mayor’s stand on the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant.


Although Duterte acknowledged that while other countries are focused on mining as among their multimillion industries, she preferred to close the city’s doors to any mining investors.


“I have already declared that mining is out of the question as it will bring more problems than solutions and we can learn a lot just by a cursory examination of the local government units [LGUs] with mining areas,” said the mayor who delivered her Soca before the city council.


She said she “already made representations with Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to keep mining out of Davao City, more specifically in the areas of Paquibato and Marilog.”


Francis Morales, spokesman of Panalipdan Mindanao, said that Duterte’s stance on mining is a welcome position.


Morales told the BusinessMirror over the phone that the mayor may have already realized that the extractive industry could not propel the local economy but could only bring environmental and social problems to their host communities.


“But the city government is just inconsistent in its position toward the environment and for the future generations. The city has the Watershed Code, the Organic Code, the No-Smoking Ordinance and now it is saying no to mining. What about on proposed coal-fired power plant?” he asked.


Morales expressed surprise that the mayor did not touch on the issue of the coal-fired power plant, a very contentious issue in the city these days.