San Miguel Corp Reaps Vast Profits at the Expense of the People and the Environment

Quezon City, Philippines — San Miguel Corporation (SMC) runs a number of massive, well-funded projects that have harmed communities for years by uprooting families, ruining livelihoods, and destroying ecosystems.

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Kalusugan, Kalikasan at Katiyakan sa Paninirahan (K4K-QC), Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA), Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO), ZALIKA, Zambales Movement for Climate Justice, affected communities in Bulacan, and other organizations held a protest at San Miguel Corporation in Ortigas, April 25

Its energy generation through coal is the biggest in the country at four coal-fired power projects with a combined capacity of 2,923 MW. In 2024, San Miguel Power (SGP) recorded a PhP 205.1 Billion increase in the revenue, attributed to a 45% rise in offtake volume, reaching 36.3 million MW-hours. This performance resulted in a net income of PhP 36.7 billion for SMC as a whole. It is profit over death and destruction of communities hosting these plants and with no solution in sight. SMC’s coal-fired power plants have caused worsening circumstances in the impacted areas in the Philippines.

In 2017, on behalf of affected communities, the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), together with Recourse and Inclusive Development International (IDI), submitted a complaint against the World Bank (WB) - International Finance Corporation (IFC), to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the IFC’s independent accountability body. The IFC's financing of 19 coal-fired power plants in the Philippines via the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), a financial intermediary, served as the basis for the case.

According to the 2019 CAO investigative report, since IFC's initial investment in their bank in 2011, RCBC has financed 10 of the 19 plants. Among others, this includes financing three coal plants owned and run by SMC.

The coal plant in Limay, Bataan continues to disrupt the residents’ lives and livelihoods. Not only did the plant cause skin diseases and health impacts, it also displaced people living near a river and other natural springs in the area, which has turned into a coal ash dump. 

The company is also expanding its coal plant in Biaan, Mariveles in Bataan, further threatening the livelihood of the fisherfolk in the town, as an Aboitiz-owned coal-fired power plant there already wreaks havoc with the health of the residents in Dinginin. 

SMC is also expanding the coal power project in Masinloc, Zambales. In February 2024, PMCJ, together with three other environmental and human rights groups, filed a complaint with Britain's National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct, against Standard Chartered's contribution to funding four coal-fired power facilities in the Philippines, including Masinloc Power Station. The complaint highlighted that nearby villages "have suffered economic and physical displacement, adverse health impacts, threats and intimidation of community activists," and that the complainants were demanding damages on behalf of the affected parties.

Zambaleños have been staunch critics and environmental defenders. In November 2024, we called on the government to conduct an investigation on the coal spill in Masinloc, but until now, there has been no corrective actions implemented. The incident happened during Typhoon Kristine, as they were transporting coal to the Masinloc power plant. SMC doesn’t have a response to it as of writing.

The SMC’s coal-fired power plant in Malita, Davao is near the Malita River and the Davao Gulf—a threat to local ecosystems. In 2017, Panalipdan Mindanao exposed that the death of eight indigenous people’s rights defenders, including Datu Victor Danyan, were linked to their activities opposing and criticizing the SMC plant’s operations.

There are more disastrous stories, as SMC is currently the backer of the proposed 6,000 MW liquified natural gas (LNG) plant in Navotas, reclaiming areas that endanger the livelihoods and biodiversity of communities in the city, as well as Bulacan.

Companies that lack social responsibility, such as SMC, should be held accountable for the multiple atrocities they are perpetrating in various areas of the country. Fossil fuel-owning corporations like SMC need to be exposed, together with their accomplices, in terms of their funding and operations.

They cannot fool the people who track their moves and underhanded tactics. The World Bank, together with IFC and RCBC, must stop greenwashing and harming people in the name of “development.” ###

#SanMiguelClimateCriminals #SanMiguelCoalporation #EndCoal #PhaseoutFossilFuels #StopTheHarm #DeliverTheRemedies #WBGSpringMeetings #SevenYearsNoJustice 

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FOR INQUIRIES:

Sheila Abarra

Senior Media and Communications Officer

Philippine Movement for Climate Justice

mediacommunications@climatejustice.ph