Laguna de Bay, the country’s largest freshwater lake, is now doomed.
The reason lies not just in persistent problems of water pollution and overfishing, but in the decision of government agencies to sell the lake off to big business conglomerates, in the guise of promoting renewable energy.
Despite strong opposition from fisherfolk and environmentalists because of economic, social, and environmental concerns as reported by OpinYon Laguna last July, floating solar projects in Laguna Lake are still a go.
Chances of overturning the government’s overwhelming support for renewable energy in the form of floating solar projects might also be slim to none simply because it is billions worth of investments benefiting the rich.
Here are some names that are responsible for the potential doom of Laguna Lake.
Big energy
Three big corporations under different subsidiaries are leading the floating solar projects.
These include SunAsia Energy, led by Maria Theresa “Tetchi” Capellan, Blueleaf Energy owned by Macquarie Asset Management, and ACEN Corporation, a subsidiary of the Ayala Group of Companies.
Under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) list of awarded solar power projects, SunAsia leads a total of 7 projects with 610.5 megawatts (MW) of potential capacity, Blueleaf Energy with a single 190 MW project, ACEN with 5 projects of a total of 838.7 MW potential capacity, and Aboitiz Power with 1 project with 103.11 MW in Laguna.
NewAsia Energy, reportedly under SunAsia Energy, has four projects with a 422.4 MW potential capacity.
It should be noted, however, that the DOE’s list is incomplete, with details missing such as these projects’ exact location in Laguna de Bay.
Last June, SunAsia partnered with Blueleaf Energy secured 10 operating contracts from DOE for a 1.3-gigawatt floating solar farm.
According to SunAsia CEO Capellan (incidentally, a former undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture) – commercial operations are targeted to start in 2026.
Meanwhile, ACEN has five floating solar projects worth P47.89 billion with an aggregate maximum potential output of 1,120 MW expected to deliver power by 2027 awaiting environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other related permits.
Graft complaints
It should be noted, by the way, that many of the current officials of the DOE – which is responsible for the issuing of operating contracts – are also formerly connected with the big business conglomerates that virtually control the country’s energy sector.
Take a look at its Secretary Raphael Lotilla, a former independent director of Aboitiz Power Corporation.
He also served as the DOE Secretary from 2005 to 2007 during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Last month, Lotilla faced a graft complaint from Sanlakas and Power for People Coalition (P4P) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino for allegedly favoring Aboitiz’ Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI) expansion in Cebu.
“By approving the expansion of TVI, Secretary Lotilla not only increased the cost of electricity for the people of Cebu and contributed to more pollution in the Central Visayas but also favored his old company, AboitizPower,” said P4PConvenor Gerry Arances in a statement.
DENR
As reported previously by OpinYon Laguna, DENR released the guidelines for issuing ECCs for floating solar projects last year but has to be revisited after complaints from fisherfolk and environmentalists
DENR IV-A Executive Director Nilo Tamoria admitted the environmental implications of such projects thus leading to a revisiting of guidelines.
However, floating solar projects will continue despite admitting environmental concerns.
LLDA
The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) not only regulates such projects, but it is also supposed to regulate the whole operation of Laguna Lake including fishery yet findings from the Commission on Audit (COA) put LLDA’s competence, or intentions in question.
The law under the Zoning and Management Guidelines of 2018, and LLDA’s own Board Resolution Nos. 540 and 561 strictly state a 60:40 area allocation for aquaculture structures in favor of small individual fisherfolk over private corporations.
The findings in 2022 revealed that individuals only had a total of 34 percent allocation while private corporations had 47 percent when it should not even exceed the 40 percent limit.
“We would like to emphasize that one of the primary purposes for the systematic and equitable area allocation... is to rationalize the utilization of the Laguna de Bay area and its resources with due regard of prioritizing the underprivileged fishermen of their entitlements, which LLDA failed to achieve,” the report stated.
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