DAVAO CITY—Environmentalists and activists gave their thumbs-up to the Congressional refinement of a law that would impose a higher tax on the extraction and utilization of coal.
“It’s a long overdue gift to the Filipino people,” said the global environmentalist group, Greenpeace, reacting on Monday to the proposal to increase the tax imposed on coal from P10 per metric ton to P300 per metric ton by 2020.
The proposal was slated to go through conciliation of the versions of the House of Representatives and the Senate in a bicameral session last Friday.
The Greenpeace information bulletin said the proposal on higher coal tax was contained in the Senate Bill 1592, also known as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, the law that contained the tax reforms in various sectors and industries, including coal.
The Greenpeace said the existing P10 tax rate was imposed in1977, “or 40 years ago.”
The proposal was spearheaded by Sens. Loren B. Legarda, Joel Villanueva and Ralph G. Recto, and supported by Sens. Francis G. Escudero, Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon and Sens. Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, Grace Poe, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
“For the coal industry, the sound of the passing bell has been heard. The Senate has sent a strong signal that the end of the age of coal is forthcoming for Filipinos,” said Khevin Yu, a Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner.
He said the group threw its support to “this bold move by the Senate to stand by Filipinos who are long suffering from the impacts of coal, and which decided that it’s time to stop coddling an industry that has caused so much destruction on our health and our country’s natural resources.”
“The coal industry cannot continue amassing wealth at the expense of destroying our environment, our climate and our people. They have been benefiting from an outdated taxation policy that is biased for the promotion of coal and enjoying this unfair advantage against other sources of energy,” he added.
Yu said the existing policies on coal “contribute to the illusion that coal is the cheapest source of energy.”
“But uncovering the true cost of coal is important because it is the more expensive, destructive and deadly option for energy generation,” he said.
Yu said the upgrade to P300 tax “is a measly amount that is not even proportionate to the negative impacts of the coal industry’s business activities, as well as their huge profits. They cannot claim to be discriminated against.”
“It is high time we, instead, increased support toward a diversified renewable energy system based on technologies and resources that are clearly cheaper than coal and highly abundant in our country,” he said.
He added Greenpeace and its allies would persist on their vigilance as vowed “to join coal-resisting communities lending support to the Senate’s initiative.”
“The Senators, especially those who earlier supported the renewable energy revolution, must prove their leadership, honesty and loyalty to their words. We have suffered enough, and big polluters, like the coal industry, must pay. This is long overdue,” Yu said.