Environmentalists on Friday filed a class suit before the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court in an attempt to stop the geothermal project of Philippine National Oil Company-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) in the buffer zone of Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park.
Some 291 complainants, including 87 children and infants, were named as complainants in the class suit against Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, PNOC-EDC and the Protected Area Management Board of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park.
The complainants from the Save Mt. Kanlaon Coalition are seeking a prohibitory injunction with temporary restraining order to prevent PNOC-EDC from operating within the buffer zone.
The complainants, who were led by lawyer Andrea Si, the coalition’s legal counsel, also carried placards calling for the protection of Mt. Kanlaon.
The PNOC- EDC has sought entry to the buffer zone to tap more geothermal energy for its Northern Negros Geothermal Plant in Mailum, Bago City to address the power shortage in Negros Occidental.
It said it has already secured the necessary permits and endorsements to continue the project.
The buffer zone is the 169-hectare land declared as a protected area under Republic Act 9154 or the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act.
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