The directors of the Ministry for Ecology of the Dioceses of Lucena, Gumaca, and Infanta, and leaders of the Church in Atimonan in Quezon and surrounding municipalities wrote a letter to Meralco PowerGen Corp. president and CEO Rogelio Singson asking for a reversal of the Meralco generation arm’s decision to restart the development of their coal power plant in Atimonan, Quezon.
The letter was signed by Rev. Fr. Zandro de Leon of the Diocese of Gumaca, Fr. Pete Montallana of the Prelature of Infanta, Fr. Warren Puno of the Diocese of Lucena, and Monsignor Noel Villareal, parish priest of the Our Lady of Angels Parish Church in Atimonan and was sent via email and courier.
“Coal is poison. And we do not want this poison here. We hope that you would listen to our appeal and reverse your decision,” said the letter.
The Church leaders, citing Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si,” called on Singson to stop the construction of the plant in line with the duty of Catholics all over the world to serve as the stewards of creation.
“There is no reason to build this new power plant when all projections point to a reduction in the demand for electricity due to the effects of COVID-19. And when the economy recovers, there is ample time to build a renewable energy alternative as a source of electricity,” the priests added in the letter.
The signatories also belied claims of Meralco that the Atimonan power plant will be clean, saying that coal will always cause pollution, regardless of the process used to extract electricity from it.
“Unlike people in Metro Manila, where the ECQ brought a respite to air pollution, coal communities continued to suffer from the continued emission of coal-fired power plants, with the resulting effects on their health. As the priest of the parish that would be most affected by this power plant, I signed this letter in the hopes of protecting my parishioners from the sickness and environmental damage that coal will bring,” said Villareal.