In the once beautiful waters near Oriental Mindoro, over 24,000 fisherfolk that rely on the ocean still struggle five months since the oil spill caused by the sinking of tanker MT Princess Empress on February 28. 

Around 50,000 liters of industrial oil in the tanker were released daily at the peak of the disaster, darkening the sea, and poisoning both fish and the livelihood of coastal residents. Agricultural, fishery, and environmental damages are estimated to reach P7 billion. Pollution has also reached the Verde Island Passage (VIP), a strait along Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Batangas, Marinduque, and Romblon, known as a global center of marine biodiversity.

The criminally charged owner of the sunken tanker is RDC Reield Marine Services (RDC). But the vessel was chartered by SL Harbor Bulk Terminal–a petroleum importer and oil-storing subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), a multinational conglomerate known for its involvement in food, infrastructure, and now, as an exempted culprit for one of the biggest oil spills in the Philippines. 

After four months of cleanup and recovery, the communities affected still cannot hold the real perpetrators answerable. The lack of accountability regarding the catastrophe stokes fear among residents and organizations especially now as the country shepherds liquefied natural gas (LNG) to cover energy demands with corporations like SMC heading the expansion. 

The Power Player

SMC’s ability to evade punishment hints at the impunity of corporations actively engaging in industries that make way for environmental disasters.

The conglomerate’s president, Ramon Ang, waited a full month before admitting they were a client of the tanker. Despite the MT Princess Empress sailing without permit and having been found to be a rebuilt scrap ship, only the RDC faced 18 charges of falsification of documents, while SMC remained scot-free. Since then, San Miguel has remained silent and offered no assistance in cleanup operations that collected their oil from the coastlines.

Protect VIP, a network advocating for the strait’s preservation, has demanded liability from the conglomerate for its carelessness in choosing a vessel. “SMC, in its choice to use VIP as a transit point for its toxic chemicals, has a moral responsibility to the public to assist in the containment, clean up, and restoration of the vulnerable maritime ecosystem,” said Edwin Gariguez, lead convenor of Protect VIP.

SMC, which prides itself as a champion for sustainability, leads the country in coal expansion and gas development projects. SMC Global Power supplies 19 percent of the national grid, 26 percent of the Luzon grid, and 7 percent of the Mindanao grid, primarily utilizing fossil fuels. They plan to further expand by adding eight LNG power plants that will cover half of the energy department's (DOE) targeted capacity expansion by 2025.

Environmental advocates have long protested against SMC’s role in the fossil fuel industry. As the government fails to hold the company accountable for its destruction, oil spills and pollution will remain as constant threats to residents near the plants and their livelihood. Worse yet, state plans for fuel expansion invite investments in dirty and costly energy because they spur other corporations to venture into building terminals for LNG imports. 

Gariguez believes that the government should stop companies from building facilities that will further bring pollution to vulnerable ecosystems like the VIP in the first place. “There will always be accidents, and the simplest way to make sure there is no repeat is to not have any opportunity for an accident to happen,” he said.

A Bridge to Nowhere

Despite the Philippines being a climate-vulnerable country, its leaders detour from investing in renewable energy (RE) in favor of LNG, which only benefits coal developers exploiting another profitable source of dirty energy. The amount of natural gas projects is an attempt by the state to court investors and exporters rather than address the energy needs of the people, Gariguez says. 

Peak energy demand was 15.28 gigawatts (GW) in 2020 but is projected to increase to 54.66 GW in 2040. As the Malampaya gas field–the natural gas plant that supplies 20 percent of the country’s energy–depletes by 2027, the government is looking to start the country’s debut as an LNG importer. 

Marcos Jr.’s Development Plan includes reliance on LNG imports and gas expansion to accommodate the energy deficit. But further dependence on a highly-priced volatile foreign product will only burden Filipinos who will have to face more costly energy, said Jephraim Manansala, Chief Data Scientist of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC).

In 2020, coal, which causes 640 air pollution-related deaths in the country every year, contributed more than half of the Philippines’ gross power generation while RE and natural gas contributed 21 and 19 percent, respectively. With increased importation, the DOE forecasts natural gas’ share to increase to 40 percent in 2040.

The DOE’s Natural Gas Development Plan (NGDP) aims to use LNG as a bridge fuel toward a low-carbon economy and to attract investments in the natural gas industry. In line with the NGDP, the government plans to add 34 more fossil gas plants with 11 LNG import terminals, most of which will be built along the VIP. 

All five existing natural gas power plants and two completed LNG terminals are already in Batangas bordering the channel. A study by the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) shows that adding more terminals means greater maritime traffic and pollution that can exacerbate reef damage, in addition to the already contaminated water that fouls fish and causes bad harvests for the residents.

“The only reason to use a transition fuel is because coal has been so thoroughly discredited that fossil fuel investors have to find a way to keep the pipelines open,” Gariguez said. Energy companies tout LNG as the “cleanest fossil fuel” due to its low carbon emissions, but CEED points out that studies conveniently neglect LNG’s massive composition of methane–a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more effective at trapping heat compared to carbon dioxide (CO2).

Global demand for natural gas is increasing in economies with rapid growth and development, with Asia Pacific being the biggest market by 2050. Top gas exporters like the United States (US) profit off of countries with high energy demands by backing plans that expand their market, as evident by its funding of the NGDP. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines is now one of the leading nations in planned gas expansion with 29.9 GW in development as well as the second-largest planned import capacity for LNG. 

While the Philippines is among the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, it is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. In the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), a long-term development plan towards climate resilience, the country committed to a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, this target will fail to be realized as the Philippines continues its reliance on and expansion of fossil fuels.

A Decisive Transition

Achieving energy security entails the commitment of the whole nation toward genuinely clean and sustainable energy, instead of a profit-driven investment scheme. Corporations like SMC continuously block the transition and degrade the climate as the state not only fails to hold them accountable, but also fosters activities detrimental to the environment.

Transitioning begins with the government complying with its commitments to the NDC. Contrary to being transitionary, LNG will lock the Philippines into fossil fuel dependency. 

"The development of fossil gas facilities diverts time and resources that can be used to hasten the advance of RE, resulting in a detour from a potentially nearing renewable energy powered future for the country," said the CEED. The think tank urges the government to immediately phase out coal, and eventually gas, by imposing maximum capacity for fossil fuels, repurposing its infrastructure, and legislating a carbon tax. Philippine banks, who fund over P51 billion into fossil gas projects, should also steer away from such investments.

Meanwhile, amid a looming power deficit, the ICSC calls for an immediate increase in RE share in power generation by creating indigenous and modernized energy systems. The country has an estimated 246 GW of untapped RE but is underutilized due to diverging policies. Aside from modernizing the energy grid, Manansala proposes the abolishment of the automatic fuel cost pass-through that enables companies to push price fluctuations on consumers. This will ensure that the provision of energy is primarily for the benefit of Filipinos, instead of for profit.

Ultimately, the country’s preference for LNG puts communities as the main victims of the fuel’s climate consequences, but they can play a decisive role in pressuring the state to accelerate the transition. And it starts with a collective push for sustainable energy and opposition to the gas industry, Gariguez said.

Until a reliable RE transition is achieved, the “cleanest fossil fuel” will still bring the same oil spills and potent pollution. Transition fuels like LNG will only bridge the country to irreversible climate destruction. ●