3 MIN READ
By SHERWIN DE VERA
www.nordis.net
LAOAG CITY — In his speech during the April 2017 public forum at the Miriam College Environmental Studies Institute on the impacts of charter change (cha-cha) on the country’s environment, Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. said proponents are declaring “war against the environment.”
“The lifting of the 60% Filipino citizenship requirement and leaving it completely to Congress to provide a new rule, which could even include no requirement at all, would end up with the outright surrender of the natural wealth – and eventually even of the country itself – to foreigners, especially to foreign business conglomerates,” said the former High Court head magistrate.
Ana Celestial of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment said Davide’s assessment remains valid for the Marcos, Jr administration’s push to revise the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
“This is the major issue we oppose as environmentalists. Charter change would give away our natural resources to foreigners,” she said during the May 13 forum at Northwestern University, Laoag City, regarding cha-cha and development projects in Ilocos Norte.
She explained that amendments would include reclaimed lands as part of the eminent domain. The proponents also want to delete the Congressional mandate to prohibit logging in endangered forest and watershed areas.
“The rapid destruction of the environment is the direct result of the unchecked plunder and appropriation of our natural resources, benefiting only a few. Charter Change will worsen this problem,” she said.
The Kalikasan activist added that the environment had suffered much even with laws limiting foreign companies. “What more if they are granted 100 percent ownership?” she asked.
The multisectoral environmental network Saluadan (the Ilokano word for protect or defend) organized the discussion to address the impacts of renewable energy projects in the president’s home province.
The group’s lead convenor, Pastor Jolean Benila, said the growing number of existing and planned renewable energy facilities in the province is concerning, especially given the reported violations of indigenous peoples’ rights and possible loss of livelihood.
“The removal of restrictions on foreign investments would aggravate environmental problems, exposing the most vulnerable sections of our society to disasters, further exploitation, and injustices,” said the United Church of Christ in the Philippines church worker during the sidelines of the event.
In November 2022, the Department of Energy issued a circular amending Section 19 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RA No. 9513). This removed the Filipino ownership requirements, allowing full foreign ownership to explore, develop, and utilize solar, wind, hydro, and ocean or tidal energy resources.
“Renewable energy capital”
Wind energy facilities in the province currently produce 282.90 MW, while existing solar farms generate 110.76 MW.
Dubbed the “Renewable Energy Capital of Southeast Asia,” Ilocos Norte is home to the 51.9-megawatt (MW) Bangui Bay wind farm, the first in Southeast Asia. Northwind Power Development Corp owns and operates the facility.
Meanwhile, the Energy Development Corporation’s 150 MW wind farm in Burgos is currently the largest in the country.
A more extensive wind energy facility by Bayog Wind Power Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of ACEN of the Ayala group, the 160-MW Balaoi and Caunayan Wind Power Project, is up for completion in Pagudpud.
Four more are being planned, including the P360 billion BuhaWind Energy offshore wind farm in Burgos, Bangui, and Pagudpud.
The province also has five solar power farms in Burgos, Currimao, Sarrat, and Bangui, and two more are up for development in Pasuquin and Paoay.
Two hydroelectric facilities are also being eyed in Vintar and Nueva Era to increase the province’s 1.8 MW generated by Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative’s Agua Grande Hydropower Plant in Pagudpud. # nordis.net
