MANILA, Philippines – Three groups filed graft complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday, July 18, against Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla for allegedly favoring AboitizPower’s expansion of a coal-fired power plant in Cebu amid a coal moratorium.
Therma Visayas Inc (TVI), a subsidiary of AboitizPower, operates a 340-megawatt power plant in Toledo, Cebu.
Non-government organization Sanlakas, broad network Power for People Coalition (P4P), and labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino filed a criminal complaint for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and and an administrative complaint for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
In the complaint, the groups said that the two units of TVI’s coal-fired power plant are mentioned in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) list of indicative and committed projects from 2014 to 2019, but that there was “no mention of any planned Unit 3 expansion.”
“Hence, the TVI Unit 3 Expansion should have been covered by the Coal Moratorium, and does not fall under its exemptions,” the complaint read.
The respondents said the amended certificate of endorsement for the third unit was only signed and uploaded on August 2023.
The Philippine government imposed a coal moratorium back in 2020. This does not cover existing coal-fired power plants and those with “firm expansion plans and existing land site provision.”
The groups said that the DOE allowed the expansion even after the moratorium is “evident that [Lotilla] acted for AboitizPower’s benefit, using his present influence in order to benefit the corporation, for which he previously acted as an independent director.”
Aaron Pedrosa, secretary-general of Sanlakas, said the planning and construction of the third unit of the power plant is a “clear case of bad faith.”
“The rules are clear: no new coal projects after 2020. There is no legal ground for Secretary Lotilla’s action and we can only assume that he wished to favor his friends in his old company with this decision,” Pedrosa said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the DOE Electric Power Industry Management Bureau (Power Bureau) clarified on Friday, July 19, that the moratorium is “not a total ban.”
In a statement released by the DOE, the Power Bureau said it issues a certification that a coal-fired power project is not covered by the moratorium “following a thorough review and verification by the [DOE] Power Bureau.”
“Several proponents of coal-fired power projects have requested the DOE’s confirmation on non-coverage and these were ministerially issued after verification,” the DOE said.
The DOE’s Power Bureau called the allegations of the groups “unfounded.”
“Diversification of energy sources is critical to energy security,” said Lotilla on Friday. “Unfortunately, we get pilloried for favoring solar and wind over coal and get charged for favoring coal over renewable energy. This leaves us with a reassuring feeling that we are getting the damn thing right.” – Rappler.com
