SCUTTLEBUTT

Environmental watchdogs are wary of San Miguel Corp.’s newfound strength in government and business.

Fr. Edwin Gariguez, lead convenor of Protect Verde Island Passage (VIP), cited SMC’s profits that have tripled, driven mainly by its energy investments.

The group expressed grave concern over the conglomerate’s huge profits derived from its energy deals.

SMC posted a net income of P42.2 billion from January to September, a staggering 215-percent increase from the P13.5 billion in the same period last year.

The gain stands in stark contrast to the reality on the ground. Across the country, including in communities that host SMC’s gas projects, people are reeling from one disaster after another.

“These impacts are only worsened by the corruption recently exposed in flood control projects, further revealing how dirty deals erode public safety and climate resilience,” Gariguez said.

In August, SMC president and CEO Ramon Ang publicly pledged to “fix” Metro Manila’s flooding problem at “no cost to the government.”

Gariguez said Ang’s promise would be almost admirable were it not so deeply ironic.

The head of the ecology group pointed out the absurdity of SMC posturing as a savior when its own aggressive expansion of questionable fossil fuel and infrastructure projects helped create the very crises that now endanger communities.

Fisherfolk and coastal families have long raised the alarm over the impact of SMC’s energy buildout — drastic declines in fish catch, worsening water and air pollution, and persistent noise disturbance that make once-thriving communities increasingly unlivable.

“These harms unfold in and around the Verde Island Passage, one of the world’s most biodiverse marine corridors, now threatened by SMC’s continued pursuit of profit over people and the environment,” the group said.

Guariguez stressed, “We maintain that there is no such thing as ethical wealth creation when it is built on the exploitation of irreplaceable ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. SMC’s soaring profits must be scrutinized, not celebrated.”