The Provincial Board of Antique is eyeing the creation of the Provincial Renewable Energy Council as part of its resolution of banning coal-fired power plants in the province.
Vice Governor Edgar Denosta sponsored “Resolution Expressing Vehement Opposition and the Banning of the Construction, Development, and Operation of Coal-Fired Power Plants in the Province of Antique.”
Denosta said that coal-fired power plants are the largest carbon emitter among all sources of energy.
“Whereas, this Resolution also aims to provide for the establishment of the Provincial Renewable Energy Council, which will be the policy-making body in creating measures to encourage the use of renewable energy for a greener and energy-sufficient province,” he was quoted in a Philippine News Agency report.
Members of the said council will include the governor, the vice governor as the vice-chair, and the provincial board chairpersons on the committee on environment and natural resources, and committee on health and sanitation, representatives from the local government units, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health (DOH), the industrial sector and other concerned government agencies.
The resolution was an outcome of the governor’s meeting with Antique Lone District Rep. Loren Legarda and Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao in December, where the parties discussed the pursuance of clean and renewable energy projects in the future.
“Congresswoman Legarda sponsored the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 and other pro-environment laws while she was a senator that she wants to promote renewable energy in the province for the protection of its wildlife and biodiversity,” he said.
He concluded that the resolution could have an impact on the future operations of the Semirara Mining and Power Corporation in Semirara, Caluya town, but not on its current operation.
