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FDC joins opposition to geothermal project in Kanlaon


MANILA, Philippines - A debt watchdog group joined communities in Negros Occidental in opposing the bid of Lopez-led Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) to expand its Geothermal Project in the Mt. Kanlaon National Park (MKNP). The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said the expansion project is a violation of numerous laws and would put to risk the natural environment and biodiversity of the MKNP. "It does not guarantee increased energy capacity; the expansion project though a geothermal energy will not result to cheap rates; and the PNOC-EDC expansion is an effort to broaden monopoly and privatize renewable energy sources in the country," it said in a statement on its website. FDC said the expansion project violates Republic Act 7586 of 1992, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS Law), and RA 9154, the "Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act." Allowing PNOC-EDC to further encroach into the buffer zone of MKNP violates provisions under Section 14, Survey of Energy Resources of the NIPAS Law, it said. The NIPAS law explicitly prohibits energy exploration and other resource extractive activities in natural parks, it noted. "In 1993, no less than the PNOC-EDC, then a government-owned, admitted that their planned exploration of the 24,557.60 hectares natural park was illegal. The same stands even with the inclusion of a 'buffer or special use zone' provision in RA 9154, a law enacted through political maneuverings and utilized by the PNOC-EDC as an excuse to contradict the NIPAS Law," it said. FDC said the law, despite its infirmities, was passed to ensure the protection of the extensive flora and fauna and guarantee the preservation of the critical watershed and rivers in MKNP. More importantly, it said the law aimed to uphold the essence and principles of environmental protection and sustainable development. Also, FDC said the expansion project will put to risk the natural environment and biodiversity of the MKNP, a shelter of the worlds largest flower family called Rafflesia speciosa. The MKNP likewise embraces the country's most critical watersheds and is traversed by four natural rivers, it said. "We believe that by allowing PNOC-EDC to enter into the buffer zone will only compromise its current natural characteristic," it said. FDC also argued the expansion project does not guarantee increased energy capacity. It said that even if PNOC-EDC be allowed to exploit the buffer zone, it can only generate an estimated of 25-MW of geothermal power in a period of only 15 years. Also, it said the expansion project though a geothermal energy will not result in cheap rates. It added the PNOC-EDC expansion is an effort to further widen control and monopoly and privatize renewable energy sources in the country. "We view the PNOC-EDC expansion as a renewed effort of the Lopez group to widen its control and monopoly of the country's power industry from the generation sector, to the distribution, and now to renewable energy sources," it said. "The current move of PNOC-EDC to enter into the buffer zone of MKNP only shows how private company could utterly sacrifice environmental resources and disregard preceding laws that govern it in the name of profit," it added. - GMANews.TV
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