No power shortage

EDC has sought entry into the buffer zone to tap more geothermal energy for its Northern Negros Geothermal Production Field in Mailum, Bago City, to meet a supposed projected power shortage in Negros Occidental.

But militant groups disputed the claims of EDC and even by the local governments that Negros is having a power shortage.

Felipe Gelle of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance)-Negros said that there is enough power supply for the entire Negros generated by the Palipinon geothermal power plant in Negros Oriental.

“The EDC’s plan to tap geothermal energy in Mt. Kanlaon is actually intended not for the poor power consumers of Negros but for the big businesses and multinational corporations coming in, including those putting up expansions in neighboring islands of Panay and Cebu,” Gelle said.

He added that even if there would be more power supply in Negros, the poor will not benefit from it because the EDC, like the big oil cartels, will just continue to hike the costs of their power to rake in super profits.

Class suit

The Save Mt. Kanlaon Coalition, a loose movement of various environmentalist groups, has recently sought the immediate stoppage to the entry of EDC into the buffer zone surrounding MKNP for geothermal development.

Lawyer Andrea Si, the group’s legal counsel and one of the pioneering members, said that they have filed a prohibitory injunction with temporary restraining order against the EDC’s operations in MKNP.

The group has asked the court to declare as unconstitutional sections of RA 9154 creating a 169-hectare MKNP buffer zone for development of geothermal energy resources, and Presidential Proclamation No. 1005 that declares a 1,475-hectare area in the MKNP as a geothermal block.

They also asked the court to declare a 1995 Environment Compliance Certificate granted EDC for geothermal development invalid, and to render void its DENR tree-cutting permit within the buffer zone.

Two hundred ninety-one complainants, including 87 children, joined the filing of a class suit against Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, the Energy Development Corp., and the Protected Area Management Board of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park before the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court.

Bacolod City Councilor Celia Flor, who is also a member of the Save Mt. Kanlaon Coalition, has urged the public to support their opposition to the MOA, and appealed for various support to their campaign.(Bulatlat.com)

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