Opinion: A Done Deal
My engineer brother Jesus who is officer 4 of Cadiz City Planning Office told
me last week that the coal power plant in Cadiz is already a done deal.
He said that Engr. Ceazar Laoas who is the proponent of the project explained to them in detail that the plant is no danger. My brother said there was no opponent from the planning office.
No danger? I do not know for others but even if I stand alone I am against the putting up of coal power plant in Cadiz despite that they say it is a solution on electric power shortage.
On the solution of the power shortage, I cannot believe that. Power shortage has been the problem of this country since I can remember back and as always those who gain from the project always said that they were putting power solutions only to fail as soon as the project is finished.
Actually, there is money in any kind of project. But as to the solution, on the end it creates more problems.
I can expect the planning department of Cadiz to all nod their heads. Experience in the past tell that those who are of different leaning from the administration are either suspended or transferred to a place far away from their expertise. That happened to many employees in Cadiz who had been sidedown even by the last administration and that despite the Supreme Court telling them to return to their work, yet many excuses are being done by a sitting administration. It happens all over the country anyway, and it’s one reason why this country is not moving forward and is left behind by other nations.
According to also Officer 4 Francisco "Amay" Deriada, the problem with planning is that once a plan is made and despite that it was already approved, once a new administration sits down, such plan is again changed and diverted. Even Amay, though not convinced being with Victorias Sugar Central before on how a smoke chimney is filtered by putting water to take the spec from coal since not all specs are trapped, and what’s worse is that, as the system goes older, the more specs are flown into the air’ he said.
It’s a reason that a subdivision established by Victorias itself for its employees received much ash from the air, and one of those who abandoned their homes at Canetown Subdivision was Mrs. Pining Ticar. Ash is everywhere and you cannot even dry your clothes outside or it blackens.
Boy Cosas who just finished his Avon Building in Cadiz said; "That’s what they said about the ethanol plant in San Carlos City. It would not be a problem but after a year of operation, we were always bombarded by putrid smell 24 hours a day." Cosas is a resident of San Carlos City. The ethanol plant hasn’t solved at all the increases on the price of fuel.
But even Amay did not say what he wanted to say, now mellowed by fighting an administration for he himself was a victim of political maneuvering in Cadiz. It needed a Supreme Court decision to install him in his present place. And it really hurt him, even looking for where to get his rice and fish when he was squeezed by the past administration. Sometimes, even if you are brilliant enough it is no match against those who holds power. In our scandalous way of running a government, if you are a genius, you need to pretend as an imbecile; anyway, that’s how those who are short in brain think of you.
Cadiz has been conditioned to submit even way back before the Marcos dictatorship. Many here had died and were buried. The injustice being done is just erased by the passing of time.
Engineer Laoas’ premise that coal cannot do any damage; he should only tell it to the birds and the bees. What is sure here is that some people will make much money out of it. Damn with the environment. Damn with the truth. Just buy those you can buy. It is a given anyway since time immemorial. To hell with whatever is on the way. Let those being poisoned or are victims of air pollution go to any medical facilities they can afford. Anyway, if RH bill cannot pass, by slowly killing people even politicians who think they are always right is one way of solving problems. In Cadiz we don’t have even a decent hospital to treat a sore. The government hospital doesn’t even have a good sanitary toilet. How much more with treatment of those cases from unseen air spiked by specs of coal?
Even the coal terminal Engineer Laoas now is building an Access Road according to environmentalist can be a problem. Agham party list Rep. Angelo Palmones is investigating the coal stockpiled at Harbour Centre in Manila without a safety net. Like Engineer Laoas’ coal terminal the coal at Harbour Centre is for other coal plants to use.
I do not know why we have to persist on using coal to be taken from Indonesia when we can have other power source not in contrast to the healthy needs of the people? We are even getting the money of Filipinos to buy coal from Indonesia. Economically speaking, it depletes our reserves and dollars that comes in and would end on Indonesian hands. It also pollutes our air. While Engineer Laoas and his cohorts can make money, how about we the people? It is us anyway who will be struck by the electric bills. It is long happening but despite of PNoy’s" matuwid na daan", nothing happens to improve the plight of consumers.
I do not know for others, but as for me, I say no to the coal fired plant to be built in Cadiz.*
