Groups seeking ecological responsibility from big business claimed victory after San Miguel Corporation appears to have backpedaled from a P18.5 billion Negros Occidental liquefied natural gas project.
SMC withdrew its application for an environmental compliance certificate for its proposed 300-megawatt LNG combined cycle power plant project in San Carlos City.

Such projects that involve land excavation and which have the potential of disrupting the natural environment of a community are required to secure an ECC.

The project would have been developed by SMC unit Reliance Energy Development Inc. as part of the conglomerate's aggressive buildup in the use of imported LNG as fuel for a host of its power plants.

Groups based in Negros led by Bishop Gerry Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, who is also a convenor of the clean energy group REpower Negros, opposed the project as it will degrade the city's ecological balance.

The withdrawal was confirmed by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"Negrosanons made their voice clear that they preferred renewable energy to LNG in sourcing their power for the island. Although LNG is considered a 'transition fuel' by some, it is unnecessary for Negros, which boasts of extensive renewable energy facilities," Avril de Torres, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development, said.

Bishop Alminaza said Negros had stood firm on the deleterious environmental and economic effects of the project.

Negrosanons wrote SMC president and Chief operating officer Ramon Ang about these concerns.

"I am grateful for the help of the Almighty in ensuring that the voice of the people of Negros was heard and that the natural beauty of our island can be preserved through the minimal use of fossil fuel," the prelate said.

The groups wanted to preserve the reputation of Negros Occidental as the center of renewable energy in the country.

With the victory, the local groups plan to reach out to other communities where SMC is putting up LNG projects.

The Asian food giant is veering towards a hard industry primarily energy generation. Its 14.1 gigawatts of proposed LNG projects account for half of the planned gas expansion in the Philippines and is also by far the largest in the region for one company.

Accelerating the adoption of more affordable and sustainable renewable energy should be the country's goal, the province's ecological warriors said. The next target of the groups is for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the province to take back the resolution of non-objection which the bishop said was issued "prematurely to the project."

"We remain committed as partners in caring for our environment and renew our call for SMC and other companies, as well as for the government to hasten the shift to RE, and for financial institutions to stop financing fossil fuels," Bishop Alminaza said.

The Negros experience and the recent ruling of the Energy Regulatory Commission to deny SMC's petition for rate increases prove that concerted public outcry forces big businesses to moderate their profit greed.