FORMER Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri expressed opposition to the proposed construction of a 15 MW coal-fired power plant by the Consunji-led DMCI Power Corporation in Brgy. Panacan, Narra, Palawan citing its proximity to the Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The proposed site for the said coal-fired power plant is less than a kilometer from the Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area by virtue of Republic Act No. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act and Presidential Proclamation 1000 issued in 2006,” said Zubiri.
Zubiri added that the Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary is a key biodiversity conservation area. It is home to at least nine species of mammals, including the globally vulnerable Dugong; eleven reptiles, including three species of globally threatened sea turtles; 137 coral fish species and 109 species of bird, including the Philippine Cockatoo or Katala. The Philippine Cockatoo is classified in the IUCN 2012 list as “Critically Endangered”.
Such classification is the highest threat category in the red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature. Rasa Island and the adjacent mainland is the habitat of the Philippine Cockatoo.”
Zubiri further added that in 1998, the Katala Foundation, Inc. (KFI), of which he is the President, started an in situ (on site) conservation project for the Philippine Cockatoo, in partnership with the local government of Narra, Palawan and Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of the DENR.
From a population of 23 to 25 individuals, Philippine Cockatoo population in Rasa Island and adjacent mainland numbers at least 250 individuals or a ten-fold increase. The said population is about a quarter of the world’s Philippine Cockatoo population of about 1,000 and the remaining population is scattered all over the Philippines in significantly smaller population.
“The construction of a coal-fired power plant in Brgy. Panacan, Narra, Palawan which is less than a kilometer from the Rasa Island Wildlife Sanctuary will seriously threaten the very survival of the Philippine Cockatoo and the other wildlife species identified in Rasa Island.
It will reverse and put to nothing the more than thirteen (13) years of conservation efforts by KFI, PAWB and the local community. Not to mention the serious health impact of the coal-fired power plant to the local population as well violations of several environmental laws in particular RA No. 9147 or the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, of which the undersigned is the principal author, and RA No. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act,” Zubiri said.
However, just last Friday, DMCI Power Corp. got the nod from the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) with the issuance of a Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) clearance for the power facility, overriding the opposition mounted by conservationists.
The SEP clearance is provided by a special law that applies only to Palawan (Republic Act No. 7611) and is a condition set by law exclusively in the case of Palawan prior to the granting of an environmental compliance certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The PCSD approval was immediately denounced by conservation groups, whose sole vote in the council’s multiagency body was overridden by its other members.
Zubiri threatens to bring the issue to the Supreme Court if DMCI will continue to construct its coal-fired power plant in the proposed site.
“I will personally bring this issue before the Supreme Court and seek an injunction or a Writ of Kalikasan and take to task the government agencies which approved this project to defend their decision before the Supreme Court and the Filipino people.”
The PCSD is chaired by Governor Abraham Mitra. Its members include the congressmen from the two districts of Palawan; representatives from the Office of the President, the DENR, the National Economic and Development Authority and the Department of Agriculture; city mayor; president of League of Municipalities of Palawan; president of Liga ng mga Barangay; and representatives from the Palawan Provincial Board, nongovernment organizations, military, business, tribal sectors and the Philippine National Police provincial command.