Residents from Rizal and Samar towns together opposed the construction of windmill farms in their provinces. The projects are being pushed by Vena Energy, a Singapore-based company and one of the biggest “renewable energy” corporations in the Asia-Pacific region.

In Rizal, residents of Talim Island—situated in the middle of Laguna de Bay—protested on February 28 to stop the Talim Wind Power Project on the island. They demanded an immediate halt to the project as its destruction of forests and mountains causes severe flooding and landslides. Behind the windmill project is the Island Wind Energy Corporation (IWEC), a subsidiary of Vena Energy.

Residents said construction on the island’s mountains began in 2025. Trees were already being felled in preparation for construction two years earlier. Led by the group Kasama sa Pangangalaga ng Isla Talim or Kapit sa Talim, residents issued a manifesto opposing the project.

In Samar, Calbayog City residents stopped Vena Energy’s attempt to build windmills inside the Calbayog Pan-as-Hayiban Protected Landscape (CPHPL), a watershed that supplies the city’s drinking water.

The company announced on February 24 that it would no longer build any structures such as windmills inside the CPHPL. The announcement came after six months of residents’ sustained pressure against the company and the local government because of the project’s destructive impact on their livelihood and environment. Thousands of city residents signed a petition against it.

However, the local government still allowed the company to build the windmills scattered across villages within the districts of Tinambacan and Oquendo. The company has begun collecting signatures for “certificates of no objection” from barangays that will be affected by the project. In response, local groups called on the people to stay vigilant against Vena Energy’s attempts to destroy trees and crops that serve as the community’s main sources of livelihood.