ACCUSATIONS of bribery and intimidation have hounded the Alcantara-led coal-fed power project in nearby Maasim, Sarangani province as opposition to the venture gets wider.

Johnny Panerio, one of the leaders of the newly-organized Maasim People's Coalition on Climate Change (MP3C), accused Conal Holdings Corp. of employing dirty tactics in the firm's attempt to pacify opposition to the proposed 200-megawatt (MW) coal plant to be built in two 100-MW phases.

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He recounted over the weekend that Gregorio S. Gonzales, Conal Holdings project manager, and two unidentified companions went to his house and told him to sign a memorandum of agreement that would make him a member of the multipartite monitoring team (MMT).

"They told me that every meeting I will receive P2,000 as honorarium to convince me. But I did not sign," Panerio said.

The incident happened last June 29 and since then, Conal Holding's personnel have kept coming back to his house to allegedly pressure him to sign the document, he added.

Conal Holdings was granted an environmental compliance certificate for its $450-million coal plant project last April 20. An MMT is needed to track the compliance of the firm to its environmental certificate.

The MP3C was formed lately to heighten the anti-coal plant campaigns of Santa Cruz Parish Against Pollution. These groups are members of the wider Socsksargen Climate Action Now (Socsksargen CAN) that was organized recently with the backing of the Catholic Church.

Gonzales vehemently denied the allegations hurled against him and the company.

"It would have given them the chance to participate in the monitoring process that will check if we are indeed complying with environmental laws and the provisions of our ECC," Gonzales said.

Gonzales said he invited Panerio upon the recommendation of the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office of Maasim.

"The fact that we invited him even if he is a member of the [Socsksargen] CAN attest to our desire to be transparent and above board in our dealings," the project manager said.

Gonzales said had Panerio consented, he would have become witness to the MOA between Conal Holdings and the Environmental Management Bureau that will create the MMT.

Gonzales said that MMT members, as practiced across the country, are each given a honorarium of not more than P2,000.

Conal Holdings is owned 60 percent by Filipino conglomerate Alsons Corp. and the rest by the Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd, Thailand's largest power producer. (BSS)