From Mindanao to Luzon, plunder by the big bourgeoisie Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corporation (SMC) on the people’s resources is relentless, harming the environment and the livelihood of the people.

In Zambales, residents, environmental groups and church people are opposing the plan of San Miguel Global Power (SMGP), a subsidiary of SMC, to expand its Masinloc Power Plant in Masinloc, Zambales. They also condemnedZambales governor, retired general Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. Ebdane’s endorsement of the plan. Ebdane is a former national officer who served as Philippine National Police chief, Department of Defense secretary, and Department of Public Works and Highways secretary.

Residents are opposing the construction of two additional coal-powered plant units, as well as the expansion of Masinloc Jetty Port. Despite the petition residents and church people submitted, Ebdane passed a “resolution of no objection” to SMC’s request to expand the plant on September 2.

The counter-petition said residents in communities around the plant have been evicted from their homes and livelihoods. They also suffered damage to their health, and harassment and intimidation. The waters in Masinloc Bay have also been polluted.

Along with the petition, the groups condemned Standard Chartered, a UK-based multinational bank, for financing the project. The plant has also received funding from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

“We from various Zambales towns, particularly Masinloc, together with other sectors such as fisherfolk and farmers, strongly oppose the resolution’s passing by the Provincial Government or the [Provincial Council] to approve the Power Plant Project’s expasion in the Masinloc area of [SMGP],” Bishop Jerome Verba of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente said.

“This will greatly contribute to global warming and rising sea level which will directly damage the environment and the livelihoods of the ordinary people especially in Masinloc and [its] neighboring towns,” Bishop Verba added.

The Concerned Citizens of Zambales study found that coal ash from Masinloc disrupted mango production, a major livelihood in the province. It also damaged farms in northern Zambales. If the plant continues expanding, it will cause more extensive damage to farms and pollute the air of the province.

The groups called for the immediate shutdown of the coal-powered plant due to “the old age of its coal-burning equipment, which does not directly help the people and the economy; rather, it contributes more to the environmental destruction,” the bishop said.

In the Philippines, coal-powered plants produce 54.7% of the energy sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.