Vice Governor Emilio Yulo III yesterday said the Negros Occidental Sagguniang Panlalawigan will decide in the first week of May whether or not to support the entry of the Philippine National Oil Co. Energy Development Corp. into the Mt. Kanlaon National Park buffer zone in Bago City to tap more geothermal power.

It is not an easy decision to make as the issues involved  are progress on one side and environmental conservation on the other, he said. ”We will have to make judgment calls and we have to be very careful, this is not a simple yes or no problem,” Yulo said.

The Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant of   PNOC-EDC in Bago City was expected to produce 49 megawatts of power but currently only produces about 4 to 5 megawatts.

PNOC EDC is asking for authority to enter the buffer zone to tap more geothermal power but the Diocese of Bacolod and some environment groups are opposed to the move saying it will destroy a biodiversity rich area.

Central Negros Electric Cooperative president Roberto Montelibano has said that because of PNOC EDCs uncertainty over the amount of power it can produce from the Bago plant, the cooperative has signed an agreement to purchase power from the KEPCO coal fired plant in Cebu City after 2010.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Energy have endorsed PNOC EDC’s entry into the buffer zone, and the SP decision on the matter is being awaited.

Yulo said this week the SP will inform all the oppositors and proponents to submit any additional memoranda or comments on the various positions and thereafter we will collate them for each board member to study.

Meanwhile, Yulo said he was not aware of any move by Board Member Nehemias de la Cruz for the abolition for the Provincial Environment Management Office. De la Cruz when asked about the matter refused to comment on it, and told the media to ask Yulo.*CPG

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