The provincial government of Sorsogon has issued a resolution promoting renewable energy and disallowing coal-fired power plants in a bid to become a clean energy province.
The provincial board recently approved Provincial Resolution No. 323-2017, declaring Sorsogon as an environment-friendly clean energy province to protect and preserve its environment.
“The province of Sorsogon shall, on the other hand, strive to develop and utilize clean and renewable energy to support economic growth and on the other hand, veer away from activities that are destructive to the environment and harmful to the Sorsoguenos’ health and livelihood such as coal-fired power plants,” it said.
The resolution stated that all government offices in the provinces shall not issue any permit, authorization, endorsement, or support for development of coal-fired power plants within Sorsogon, citing the hazardous effects of coal to both the environment and the health of its residents.
Its provincial capital, Sorsogon City, has also confirmed its own support for this initiative through Resolution No. 384, Series of 2017, authored by City Councilor Edwin Divina signed in December.
The city resolution commits the city as a “clean energy city free of coal-fired power plants” and also prohibits any office to issue permits supporting the development of coal-fired power plants.
Sorsogon City has embarked on the Climate Change Project with the help of the United Nations Habitat and the Sorsogon City Model has earned the Climate Adaptive and Disaster Resilient Awards citation from the Climate Change Commission.
Sorsogon, considered a transshipment corridor for Visayas and Mindanao, is frequently hit by strong typhoons and storm surges, and the city recognizes its vulnerability to the effects of climate change.
Sorsogon Province already hosts the 140-megawatt Bacon-Manito Geothermal Project of Energy Development Corp.