By Jonathan L. Mayuga - June 20,
2018
THE Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang
Mamamalakaya (Pamalakaya) on Wednesday expressed its support behind the
call of fishermen in Masinloc, Zambales, to stop the operation of the
600-megawatt Masinloc Coal-Fired Power Thermal Plant (MCFTPP).
The plant has been operating in
Barangay Bani, Masinloc town, since 1998. The MCFTPP is situated within a
137-hectare area within the Masinloc and Oyon Bay Marine Reserve, a locally
managed conservation area.
The coal-fired power plant,
Pamalakaya said, poses a serious threat to the environment and the lives and
livelihood of almost 60,000 residents in the coastal town of Masinloc.
“For almost two decades of its
operation, the coal-fired power plant poses environmental disaster to the
municipal fishing grounds of Masinloc. Fishers in municipal waters suffer from
fish-catch depletion,” Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya chairman, said in a
statement.
“The coal stockpile along the shoreline
scatters throughout the marine reserve declared by the government. It results
in the destruction of marine resources and massive outmigration of fish,”
Hicap said. The fisherfolk group also rejects the proposed expansion of the
plant, claiming it will violate the memorandum of agreement between the
National Power Corp., provincial and local government units, stating that, “The
NPC shall not construct additional or future power plants in Masinloc,
Zambales, aside from the proposed 2 x 300 MW Masinloc Coal-Fired Thermal Power
Plant in Barangay Bani without prior approval of the people”
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