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BRIGHT SPOT Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. stresses Iloilo role as an IT investment destination during the investment forum of the Iloilo Information Technology Week at Amigo Terrace Hotel Tuesday. Listening are (L-R) Antonio Jon of ILED, Atty. Giovanni Miraflores, Rex Drilon II of ILED, and Dr. Glenn Aguilar of IFIT. (Photo by Tara Yap)
Iled now confident of promotional campaigns
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
SELLING the city and province of Iloilo to potential investors is a cinch with the looming construction of a coal-fired power plant in LaPaz, Iloilo City.
Rex Drilon II, Iloilo Economic Development Foundation president, said they will mount a major investment forum in Metro Manila late this year to push Iloilo to serious investors.
Drilon, the chief operations officer of Ortigas Co. and Limited Partnership, said they have been planning to mount the forum “but various problems, especially in the power sector, stopped us from going all-out.”
Drilon said the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate to two coal-fired power plants proposed by Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC) and DM Consunji, Inc. will put Iloilo in an attractive position in the eyes of investors.
“We can now go full steam ahead with our marketing efforts for Iloilo. With these two power plants combining for more than 200MW of power, we have more than enough and investors will surely flock the city and province,” Drilon said.
GBPC, the mother company of Panay Power Corp. which is the sole power supplier of Iloilo City, is the proponent of the coal-fired power plant at Brgy. Ingore, LaPaz.
DMCI is proposing to construct a similar plant in Concepcion, Iloilo.
During the IT Investment Forum at Amigo Terrace Hotel Tuesday, Arman Lapus, GBPC executive vice president for commercial, assured businessmen that their company will deliver the plant in 2010.
“Cheap and reliable power supply will be available in time for the projected boom in the information technology sector. With the issuance of the ECC, we can deliver the plant by end of 2010,” Lapus said.
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has set several conditions for the proponents of the 164-MW coal-fired power plant in Iloilo City to mitigate any adverse effects of the project on the community.
The conditions are spelled out in the environmental compliance certificate issued by DENR Secretary Jose “Lito” Atienza to Panay Power Corp. (PPC), proponent of the power plant which will be constructed on the PPC property at Brgy. Ingore, LaPaz district.
Atienza signed the ECC September 1, almost nine months after PPC, which is a subsidiary of Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC), submitted its environmental performance report and management plan (EPRMP) and environmental management plan (EMP).
The top condition set by the DENR is the continuous conduct of an “effective information, education and communication (IEC) program to educate stakeholders of the mitigating measures of the project.”
The IEC will also inform contractors, workers and local residents on the conditions set by the ECC and the environmental and human safety features of the project “for greater awareness, understanding and sustained acceptance” of the undertaking.
The IEC program will be implemented in the form of quarterly consultation with affected residents, farmers and fishpond owners.
Environmental training for the staff, contractors and workers will also be conducted to help them understand the mitigation, monitoring safety measures of the power plant.
The DENR also directed the project proponent to continuously implement the comprehensive social development program for the affected community. The program must be submitted to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) central and regional offices 30 days after receiving the ECC.
The proponent was also required to establish and maintain a 5-meter buffer zone planted with appropriate local species along the plant’s periphery.
Another condition is the installation of additional automatic sensor for monitoring temperature and other relevant parameters prior to the discharge of cooling water from the coal-fired power plant while maintaining the existing one.
As a general condition, the proposed plant shall conform with the provisions of Republic Act 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990), RA 8749 (Clean Air Act of 1999), RA 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act) and RA 9275 (Clean Water Act of 2004).
The existing memorandum of agreement on the environmental guarantee fund (EGF), environmental monitoring fund (EMF) and multipartite monitoring team (MMT) shall be revised to include the coal-fired power plant.
The revisions will include the increase in EGF and EMF for the cleanup and monitoring of the plant operations.
Also, the action/management program for the protection and enhancement of the Jaro River and the existing mangroves/aroma stands in the area shall be implemented continuously and regular monitoring of said river to include aquatic biota shall be continuously undertaken. The results of the monitoring shall be submitted to the EMB central and regional offices.
Engr. Adrian Moncada, PPC assistant vice president, said they will install the display of the continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) at the DENR regional office “so that the public can see that we follow the standards set by the law.”
“The CEMS will operate 24 hours, seven days a week and it will be open to the public. We want our operations to be transparent to the community,” Moncada said.
Moncada said they will also continue to help rehabilitate the Maasin watershed area and plant a buffer zone around the plant to address concerns about greenhouse gases.
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
THE municipal mayor of Pavia is riling against Rep. Judy Syjuco (2nd district, Iloilo) for the alleged ghost multimillion road project in his town.
The P28-million project covers the 3.4-kilometer Pagsanga-an – Tigum – Cabugao Norte provincial road in Pavia which was heavily damaged during the flashflood brought about by typhoon Frank.
In a letter dated July 17, Pavia Mayor Arcadio Gorriceta requested P28 million from Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias for the repair and asphalting of the said road.
Banias then endorsed Gorriceta’s letter to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional director Rolando Asis, who then forwarded the same to DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane.
Asis recommended to the DPWH central office the inclusion of the Pavia project in the list of projects to be funded.
On August 27, Gorriceta wrote Asis requesting the implementation of the P28-million project through a memorandum of agreement offering to construct a concrete road instead of an asphalt road. The road will be 6.10 meters wide and 9 inches thick.
The mayor also informed Banias of his offer to construct a concrete road following DPWH specifications.
Gorriceta was later informed that the P28 million for the project will be released in three tranches: P10 million for the first installment, P10 million for the second release and P8 million for the last tranche.
On September 4, DPWH assistant regional director Joby Cordon informed Gorriceta that the initial P10.5 million for the project was released to the DPWH 4th Engineering District based in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo upon request of Syjuco.
The following day, Arcadio was surprised when district engineer George Suy informed him that the project was awarded to Patrila Construction Co. through negotiated contract.
Suy said the contractor has started delivering boulders and grading of the road. But upon actual inspection of the project site, Patrila has not delivered any materials and has not done any grading work.
According to Suy, the scope of work is “repair and restoration” by filling of dakal-dakal (sand and gravel), not asphalting nor concreting because they will just “restore” the gravel road to its original form.
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