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www.mindanaodailybalita.com VOL. 2, No. 92
Cagayan de Oro City
Monday
September 3, 2012
The deadly cost of coal By DEAN DE LA PAZ | posted on the Philippine Online Chronicles, www.thepoc.net
GOING GREEN is in vogue and as imagery goes, “fashionably green” helps clean up the corporate black faces and darker hearts of even the most pollutive enterprises. To be specific, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the modern three-word shibboleths that characterize this new century and it is one that corporations that pollute often claim they take seriously. Among those are energy companies that burn toxic fuels like bunker and coal such as the independent power producers (IPP) we used to condemn in the time of Gloria Arroyo. Unfortunately, the IPPs are no longer villains under the government of Benigno Aquino III. Their highest executives not only sit beside Aquino and dictate energy policies
but through bad advice Aquino has also lined up more toxic coal-based projects than had his predecessor. At least three are in the offing in the middle of urban communities where they can inflict the most damage. Uncannily, these IPPs have some of the most ballyhooed CSR programs. Never mind the inconsistencies. Hype sells. Obviously Aquino is not hesitant, or simply does not care to understand enough, to blindly buy into the heresy. As the Department of Energy (DOE) maintains that nearly a third of our energy sources are based on toxic and deadly coalfired plants due to its cheaper values compared to bunker-fired and renewable sources, they continue to encourage its propagation. The myopia is obvious. The aspect of being cheaper naturally brings us to the question of costs. Following the policy of the government that compels aggressive coal-based programs from coal
mining to toxic coal-fired facilities, the aspect of coal as inexpensive is related only to business costs. Business costs are either borne by the IPP, the government through subsidies and public infrastructure costs, or, at the end of the value chain, by electricity consumers. Note the anomaly. In the business cost model, there is no accounting for any kind of cost outside of the bilateral contractual relationship between a producer and the endconsumer. For the IPP, everything at the predevelopment stage can be capitalized and passed on as they enter the IPP’s financials. These include what communities charge as social costs such as community displacement, land and agriculture degradation, fish kills as well as crops burned to make way for generation facilities. For pollution mitigating equipment such as scrubbers and waste water treatment plants to comply COAL/PAGE 9
COAL-FIRED power plant smoke stack emissions. Photo by Emilian Robert Vicol
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Phivolcs recorded about 130 aftershocks after Friday’s quake COTABATO City––Following the 7.7 magnitude quake that hit the eastern part of the Visayas and Mindanao Friday night, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded about 130 after shocks. In Davao and Davao del Sur, the quake was recorded at intensity 4 which hit the region at about 8:45 p.m. causing many residents to panic, according to Desiderio Cabanlit, seismologist of Phivolcs Davao region office. Following the minute long quake was a tsunami alert level 3 raised in the eastern part of Mindanao,
specifically along the coast of Davao Oriental, Digos City and Davao Oriental. No casualty was reported in the Davao region. In a statement, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said aftershocks normally happened after a major tremor. He recalled that in February this year, close to a thousand aftershocks were recorded by Phivolcs following a quake that hit Negros Orientl. Minutes after the earthquake that hit Visayas and Mindanao Friday night, Phivolcs raised the alert level 3 warning in QUAKE/PAGE 9
Drive v armed groups up in Davao del Sur By BEN D. ARCHE, Regional editor-Davao
DIGOS City––A top official of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) recently ordered his agents in Davao del Sur to strengthen the campaign against loose firearms and private armed groups existing in the province. CIDG director Samuel Pagdilao, Jr. has tasked the CIDG provincial office to launch an intensified operation in dismantling several armed groups which are allegedly organized by unscrupulous politicians for the coming elections. “I have given order to Francis Sonza (CIDG provincial director) to search for loose firearms and to apply for search warrant in
Manila to ensure the arrest of the culprits,” Pagdilao said in a visit here to attend the program prepared by CIDG provincial office and the Community Investigative Support (CIS). Pagdilao explained that he preferred the special courts in Manila for the filing of search warrants to keep it confidential and free from being intercepted by the target persons. Earlier, police authorities arrested Mayor Jimmy Joyce and six security escorts during a raid in the mayor’s residence in Jose Abad Santos (JAS) town, Davao del Sur where several illegal firearms were recovered. GROUPS/PAGE 9
National peace consciousness month activities slated THE Office of the Presidential on the Peace Process (OPAPP) has lined up a series of activities nationwide for the celebration of the 9th National Peace Consciousness Month (Peace Month), that starts sunday (September 2), OPAPP Secretary
Teresita Quintos Deles said. The month-long celebration, which carries the theme “Ako. Ikaw. Tayo. Magkakaiba, Nagkakaisa sa Kapayapaan” is intended to raise awareness among Filipinos on the need to advance the government’s
on-going peace process with Moro and communist rebel groups and promote a culture of peace among Filipinos, Deles said. She added: “This culture of peace will be anchored on nonviolence, respect for fundamental rights
and freedoms, tolerance, understanding and solidarity––values guided by the principles of “daang matuwid.” The peace month celebrations will start with a football clinic featuring the national men’s football team,
the Philippine Azkals, and a Peace Fair. Following this will be a series of events which include a massive “I Am for Peace” campaign involving famous celebrities; a series of photo exhibits on the gains of the peace process in major Metro Manila
malls; a job fair, cultural and gala program showcasing peace process milestones; a golf fundraising tournament; and simultaneous peace concerts in key cities in the country. Deles said every PEACE/PAGE 7
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