To Mount Bulusan: Geothermal Lessons from Mount Kanlaon

"The Save Mount Kanlaon Coalition and some Negros environmentalists share the same sentiment as the Bulusan people and local government‟s. The geothermal project of the National

Negros Geothermal Power Plant (NNGPP) is accounted for the cutting down of thousands of trees, direction drilling underground, and displacement of the wild flora and fauna with the contamination of the waterways." (source: www. academia.edu paper by Cris Sarmiento)

Avatar-like rainforest of Mount Bulusan.

A reference to this point is the Statement jointly released by Save Mount Kanlaon Coalition and the New Environment Watch, July 22, 2011 that reads:

"Despite its numerous claims and reassurances, supposedly backed up by extensive scientific studies and technical findings through the last 17 years, the geothermal project has dismally failed to produce EDC’s original target of 80 MW. This was drastically reduced to 49 MW in 2007, and was even further reduced to 40 MW when the EDC insisted to enter the primary forest, which was successfully mislabeled and renamed as the “buffer zone” with the passing of the Mt. Kanlaon Law.

The EDC project has only succeeded to degrade a wide swath of Mt. Kanlaon, alter its boundaries, cut down thousands of old forest trees, destroy critical wildlife habitat, defy environmental laws, and eventually, wasted billions of pesos worth of public funds. Worse, EDC’s encroachment into the 169 hectare “buffer zone” of Mt. Kanlaon is patently illegal as the project’s 1995 ECC (Environmental Compliance Certificate) is not for the 169 hectares of primary forest but for areas described in the 1995 Environmental Impact Statement as 50% grassland and open areas, 32% cropland, and 18% secondary forest. (Note: Under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1586 establishing the Environmental Impact Statement System and Presidential Proclamation No. 2146 defining the scope of the system, Environmentally critical projects (ECPs) located in environmentally critical areas (ECAs) like a primary forest require an Environmental Impact Assessment to give said areas the highest protection especially from resource extractive activities.)

EDC has made a name for itself and for the Lopezes, both nationally and internationally, for its Green Energy projects and its partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, but contrary to this repution, EDC ‘s maintaining of its geothermal wells inside a “buffer zone” that is actually 169 hectares of primary forest with high biodiversity only perpetuates the continued rape of Mt. Kanlaon and of democracy itself.

In view of all these, we demand that EDC remove all of its civil works from the “buffer zone,” rehabilitate the area, and account or pay for the destruction perpetrated in Mt. Kanlaon and its environs. EDC should also turn-over the 169 hectare “buffer zone” to the MKNP PAMB, in compliance with Section 5, RA 9154, which states: “…areas within the buffer zone which shall not be used directly for the development and utilization of geothermal energy shall remain under the control and jurisdiction of the PAMB.”

We further call on our governor and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to terminate the 2008 Memorandum of Agreement with EDC and to require EDC to immediately discontinue its operations in the “buffer zone.” We also call on our Congressmen with the strong support of our governor and Provincial Sanggunian, to amend RA 9154 so that the 169 hectare “buffer zone” is re-established as part of the protected area of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, a correct buffer zone established outside of its perimeter, and the EDC is removed as a permanent member of the MKNP PAMB and PAMB Executive Committee."

Mount Bulusan rainforest.

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines