Batangas City- Communities in Batangas City conducted a protest on November 19, 2025 in light of the campaign launch of “Don’t Gas the South,” calling on governments gathering in Belém, Brazil for #COP30 to stop the massive gas build-out in the Global South that is undermining global climate goals. The protest was originally designed as a fluvial action but the protesters were stopped by authorities.
Touted as the Philippines’ fossil gas hub, Batangas City hosts seven major operating fossil gas power plants with a combined capacity of approximately 4,610.5 megawatts (MW), one of the highest concentrations in the country. These include the Ilijan Combined-Cycle Power Plant (1,436.5 MW) in Barangay Ilijan; the Santa Rita Power Plant (1,133.9 MW) and San Lorenzo Power Plant (586.5 MW), both located in Barangay Sta. Rita, the San Gabriel Power Plant (442.9 MW) at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex, the Avion Power Plant (130.8 MW) in Barangay Bolbok, and the newly operated EERI Power Plants (880 MW) in Barangay Dela Paz Proper. This underscores the area’s heavy concentration of gas infrastructure and the resulting environmental and health pressures on nearby communities.“In the Philippines, the profit-seeking energy elites and their allies in the government insist on branding fossil gas as a transition fuel. This is nothing but a ploy to prolong the phaseout of fossil fuels through greenwashing to keep making more money from these dirty and deadly energy sources. Fossil fuels cannot be used as a transition fuel. Not just because fossil gas is as dangerous and unreliable as coal, but also because the transition that should accompany its use has no sunset provision. It defies the climate goals through its business-as-usual profit motivation,” said Ian Rivera, national coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ).
Rivera emphasized how Batangas is at the center of this false transition. Due to the province being a center of sea trade and ports, it has become plagued by fossil fuels. As a fossil gas hub, the ill effects of LNG are magnified for its people. Last week, Ayala Group withdrew from a fossil gas project in Batangas City, highlighting a win for Batangueños.
“We have been steadfast in our fight for climate justice. Our win against the BCE project strengthens our resolve to continue resisting environmentally degrading projects. There is hope in resistance. And we prove that to be true with every small win we gain from this. Living with this economy, system, and these killer projects is hard enough. But we endure for our children,” said Leth Casao of Clean and Healthy Air for All Batangueños (CABATANG).
Gas-fired power plants remain a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, undermining the Philippines’ commitment to the Paris Agreement and its goal to reduce carbon emissions by 75% by 2030. The Philippines is also a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge which aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 compared to 2020 levels.
“True transition is clean and healthy for people and the environment, and fossil gas is not. In Batangas City, where LNG facilities operate, 17,803 and 10,315 people suffered from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, respectively, according to the Batangas City Health Office’s 2024 data. Not only this, but the livelihoods of Batanguenos are also at risk. A PhilStar report said that the fishing yield of Batangas plummeted from around 93,090 metric tons in 2019 to only around 65,857 in 2020,” said Larry Pascua, senior energy officer of PMCJ.
Asia accounts for the largest share of the planned gas build-out, hosting 104 newly discovered and in-development gas fields, 530 planned gas power plants, 300 proposed gas pipelines for construction, and 84 planned LNG import and export terminals, according to recent data.
“The transition fuel narrative on fossil gas is a sham and a weak attempt to greenwash fossil fuel to protect profits. Although we are in a desperate situation where time is a resource, we are moving too fast to a complete climate catastrophe; there are real solutions to the problem of emissions, not just fossil fuels dressed in green. We need to radically change the systems that are responsible for disasters and calamities that wipe out our communities and allow politicians and elites to profit from our death and destruction,” Rivera ended. ###
PHOTO BY GUIA MISTADES, JYOR SO, KENOSIS YAP AND PMCJ
