By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental gubernatorial candidate, incumbent Negros Occidental Vice Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, said a majority of San Carlos City residents are supportive of the proposed construction of a 300-Megawatt coal-fired power plant in their city.

“If they want it then I would support it,” the vice governor said.

A committee hearing over the proposed power plant was supposed to take place last Wednesday; however, it was postponed after representatives from the Department of Energy and National Grid Corporation of the Philippines did not show up.

Provincial Board Member Manuel Frederick Ko has since rescheduled the hearing for March 6.

Earlier, Ko said there is no exact date pertaining to the request by Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr. to pass an ordinance declaring the province “coal-free.”

During a Negros Occidental Provincial Board Committee on Energy hearing last December, Ko, who chaired the meeting, revealed 70 percent of the power demand in the province is generated through “conventional sources or coal.”

In addition, regardless if Negros is declared “coal-free,” such material will still be prevalent in nearby provinces as power to the island is mostly sourced from power plants in Cebu and Iloilo.

The proposed coal-fired power plants continues to face opposition from church leaders and environmental groups./DGB, WDJ