Environmental advocates, along with fisherfolk, reminded the new Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary, Raphael Lotilla, to remain true to the agency’s mandate as new projects float on the lakes of Laguna province.
Ayala-led ACEN Corporation is leading a large-scale floating solar project in Laguna Lake, expected to power the Luzon grid and begin construction by the third quarter of this year. The project will stretch up to 2,000 hectares, encroaching on the inland brackish lake near the cities of Calamba, Cabuyao, and Santa Rosa, and the towns of Bay and Victoria.
“The new DENR chief should revamp the policies of the DENR into a people-oriented and rights-based approach on environmental protection and climate change adaptation,” Fernando Hicap, national chairperson of fisher group PAMALAKAYA, said in a press release.
Former Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Lotilla replaced Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, in compliance with a cabinet reshuffling per President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s orders, May 22.
In a press briefing, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced that Yulo-Loyzaga will be appointed to a new position at a future time. At the moment, DENR shall welcome its new secretary, despite Lotilla’s questionable climate track record from his time at DOE.
While advocate groups like PAMALAKAYA and Greenpeace welcomed Yulo-Loyzaga’s resignation, they did not spare Lotilla’s entry into the department. They cited Lotilla’s term in DOE, tainted with greenlighting power plant expansions and fossil fuel use, amid rising electricity costs and recurring blackouts.
His connections with Aboitiz, a major player in the country’s fossil fuel industry, made him an accomplice in the proliferation of dirty energy, the Power for People’s Coalition criticized. Lotilla was sued for approving the power plant expansion of the Aboitiz-owned Therma Visayas Inc. Unit 3 in Cebu despite an imposed coal moratorium.
The moratorium was set to prohibit further creation of coal power plants to aid in the country’s transition to renewable energy. However, Lotilla approved the expansion, arguing that the moratorium does not apply to already existing power plants.
In a statement by Power for People’s Coalition, Gerry Arances said Lotilla should brace himself “for the highest standards of accountability” to those gravely affected by his term at DOE.
Currently, the environmental network Save Laguna Lake Movement calls on the new secretary to examine the potential impacts of ACEN’s proposed floating solar power project on the ecosystem and the livelihood of the residents nearby.
Groups continue their calls for people-oriented policies from the department, echoing demands to take bold and decisive actions through mandates that will hold the agency accountable for excessively pro-corporation policies.
Save Laguna Lake Movement has already begun writing a correspondence between the network and the new department officials regarding the project. Meanwhile, PAMALAKAYA vowed to be vigilant on Lotilla’s policies on environmental protection and climate change mitigation.
“We urge Mr. Lotilla to revoke all the environmental permits granted by his predecessors to destructive projects, including reclamation and sea-bed quarrying,” Hicap said. ●
First published in the May 27, 2025, print edition of the Collegian.
