By CESAR JOLITO III
An ethanol distillery in Negros Oriental’s Bais City has been allowed to resume limited operations at 60 to 70 percent capacity following last year’s environmental incident involving a spill into the Tañon Strait, with the company now seeking an extension to continue operations.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Negros Island Region (DENR-NIR) confirmed that the Pollution Adjudication Board issued a temporary lifting order, permitting Universal Robina Corporation’s (URC) ethanol-producing facility to operate for three months starting December 2025.
The order’s lifting was disclosed by DENR-NIR Director Charlie Fabre on Monday, March 30.
Fabre said the temporary permit granted to URC is set to expire this March.
The distillery, which produces ethanol from molasses, had been ordered to halt operations after a significant volume of spent wash leaked into the Tañon Strait.
The incident was traced to the collapse of a portion of the plant’s containment lagoon.
Some 255,000 cubic meters of wastewater spilled into Bais Bay and nearby coastal areas when the distillery’s lagoon wall collapsed on October 28, 2025.
The spill has caused mass fish kills, pollution and the displacement of coastal families and businesses.
In response, the Manjuyod local government unit declared a 90-day state of calamity, while the provincial government reported the loss of around 10,000 milkfish fingerlings at its aquaculture complex in Barangay Panambalon.
Local officials have also demanded accountability and long-term safeguards.
Proceedings
Meanwhile, legal proceedings related to the incident remain ongoing.
A complaint filed against URC for alleged violations of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Law is still pending before the Prosecutor’s Office in Bais City.
The case cites the operation of the company’s containment lagoon without clearance from the Protected Area Management Board, as well as its role in causing pollution in the protected waters.
Fabre added that URC has requested an additional 14 days to submit its formal response to the complaint.
Authorities continue to monitor the company’s compliance with environmental regulations as deliberations on the extension request and legal case proceed./CJ, WDJ