THE Cebu City Council endorsed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 and other concerned agencies the proposed coal-fired power plant project in Barangay Sawang Calero.
In a 10-4 vote, the council approved the motion of Councilor Jose Daluz III to endorse the matter to DENR 7. This, after the Cebu City Zoning Board submitted their approved resolution on the request of Ludo Power Corp. (LPC) to reclassify the land use of their project site.
Councilors Margarita Osmeña, Sisinio Andales, Eugenio Gabuya Jr. and Mary Ann delos Santos voted against the motion of Daluz, saying they want to hear first the sentiments of the public about the project.
Daluz, along with Councilors Jerry Guardo, Raymond Garcia, Jocelyn Pesquera, James Cuenco, Pastor Alcover, Dave Tumulak, Nendell Hanz Abella, Philip Zafra and Eduardo Rama voted in favor of the motion.
Councilors Alvin Arcilla and Joy Young abstained from voting.
Daluz said the endorsement will only allow the proponent to start processing their documents and does not mean outright approval of the project.
“Let’s just endorse it to DENR.Anyway, it is still a long process. They will still conduct public hearing and it will still go back to us,” he said.
In its resolution, the zoning board said they are not adverse to granting a variance to the project as long as it does not violate City Ordinance (CO) 1656 or the Zoning Ordinance of Cebu City.
The LPC wants their site to be classified under medium and high-intensity industrial districts (I2) instead of low-intensity districts (I1).
The site’s I1 classification is among the reasons why the previous council disapproved the project.