Ingore folks want anti-coal groups to apologize
RESIDENTS of Brgy. Ingore, LaPaz, Iloilo City are demanding an apology from a nun and anti-coal advocates for calling them “stupid” because of their pro-coal stance.
Punong Barangay Ernie Poral of Ingore said his constituents were insulted with the statements of a certain Sister Gan of Colegio Sagrado Corazon de Jesus during an abbreviated anti-coal rally in their village Saturday.
“What our residents could not accept is that the nun called us stupid and that our souls will go to hell because they are supporting the proposed coal-fired power plant. Our people were inflamed by her statements which were heard over the public address system,” Poral said.
Ingore is the site of the 164-MW coal-fired power plant being proposed by Global Business Power Corp. (GBPC) which operates Panay Power Corp. (PPC), the sole power producer in Iloilo City.
Last week, members of environmental group Greenpeace and Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy (RISE) set camp near the PPC plant to protest the coal plant project.
Several students and nuns tried to show support for the anti-coal groups by holding a rally at the camp site but police officers stopped them from going near the plant.
On Saturday, some 50 Ingore residents held a rally to express their ire at the anti-coal advocates’ insulting statements and express support for the project.
The anti-coal groups left the plant site early morning yesterday.
Poral said the group also showed utter disrespect and caused tension when they entered the village sans permission from local officials.
The village chief said the anti-coal advocates violated a barangay ordinance requiring any group to secure a permit before holding a rally or protest action in their place.
Poral said Melvin Purzuelo of RISE showed him a document from the Office of the City Mayor purportedly allowing them to hold the protest. But the paper turned out to be an endorsement from Mayor Jerry Treñas for the group’s permit to rally application.
“We respect their rights to express their opinions but they should do so without infringing the rights of other people. And they should refrain from disturbing the orderliness and peace of our village,” Poral said.
Meanwhile, Engr. Adrian Moncada, GBPC assistant vice president for commercial operations, debunked claims that they intimidated Greenpeace members.
“Even if they were inside our property, we did not physically harass them. Even the rally of the residents was a peaceful event. That is another tactic of their group to cover up their failure to shore up public support for their cause,” Moncada said.
Moncada said “pro-development Ilonggos succeeded in driving away foreign exploiters” who wanted to deceive the community.
Francis Allan L. Angelo, The Daily Guardian
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