Philippines: Green power needs to be built with communities' trust, gained through local consent

The Philippines needs cheaper electricity.

People want it. The industry demands it. The nation badly needs it.

And it's actually possible to deliver it.

How? With ramped up renewable energy projects.

This drive, no doubt, will also lead to greater energy security.

There's just one big problem: Every time a major pumped-storage hydropower project is proposed, it meets a familiar wall: angry residents, worried church groups, environmental defenders, and accusations of weak consultation.

And it's a big problem. But it shouldn't be, if tackled properly.

Over the past few years, publicly documented opposition has centred on at least four projects: the 1,400-MW Ahunan Pumped Storage Hydropower Project in Pakil, Laguna, the proposed 300-MW San Roque hydropower project in Malay, Aklan; the 1,200-MW Maton hydropower project (2,000MW) in Apayao, and the 8-MW Catiuran hydropower plant in Oriental Mindoro (opposed by some locals and Mangyan tribes).

As for Ahunan hydropower in Pakil, Laguna, reporting and community records identify multiple protest actions — including a June 2022 protest that led to the arrest of environmental advocate Daisy Macapanpan, a July 5, 2025 indignation rally attended by hundreds, and renewed protests after a November 2025 landslide in Barangay Rizal.

In Aklan, villagers, indigenous peoples, and environmentalists opposed the San Roque project during a July 26, 2025 public consultation; the Nabaoy barangay council later passed a resolution against it.

The backlash against such projects are expected.

Several protest actions, consultations, prayer walks, and local-government objections had been recorded by local media.

The paradox

Local concerns/protests against such projects are to be expected, especially in a democracy where everyone has a voice.

Protests and concers are considered as feedbacks.

They can help remarkably improve the long-term viability of big national projects.

In short: protests and concerns are a management challenge.

It's a simple fact: pumped-storage hydropower can disrupt the local environment and communities.

Public consent is of absolute necessity.

They are mega "water batteries", a form of renewable energy that stores surplus solar and wind power, providing base power, and ramped up by release more water it when demand rises.

In theory, it can also mitigate frequent flooding in the tropical country.

More importantly, it can reduce reliance on costly imported fuel and help stabilise the grid. In principle, it serves the national goal of lower power rates and cleaner energy.

But communities in Pakil, Aklan, Apayao and Mindoro are not opposing clean energy.

They are opposing projects imposed without trust.

Critics of Ahunan cite tree-cutting on Sierra Madre slopes, risks to the Turumba Spring and "local religious heritage", landslide and seismic concerns.

In Laguna, there are concerns raised possible restrictions on farmers and fisherfolk by the Pakil mega hydropower plant.

In Aklan, opponents warn that the project could damage the Nabaoy watershed and the Northwest Panay Peninsula Natural Park — water sources vital to Boracay and nearby communities, according to Licas.

These are not trivial “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) complaints.

They concern water security, disaster risk, livelihoods, culture, and the credibility of environmental review.

The same concerns were aired by people against the 8MW Catuiran Hydroelectric Power Plant during the initial stage — until it was completed in 2018 and local concerns were addressed.

Yet everybody wants cleaner, cheaper sources of power.

France’s electricity pricing generally follows regulated tariffs or market offers.

Some French municipalities hosting nuclear plants historically used local revenues, tax advantages, or negotiated agreements to cut residents’ costs— and, occasionally, provided free electricity.

While these were local, historical arrangements, rather than a nationwide entitlement or standard benefit, the country's main local-acceptance mechanism is the Commission Locale d’Information, which focuses on nuclear safety, radiation protection, environmental oversight, transparency, and public participation.

The real obstacle

The Philippines, like any other country, cannot meet its energy transition goals if every project becomes a battlefield between developers and communities.

But neither can it meet those goals by treating "local consent" as a bureaucratic formality.

The lesson is simple: renewable energy must be built with communities, not merely near them.

Developers must provide transparent impact studies, fair compensation, independent geohazard assessments, enforceable water protections, and genuine public participation. Government regulators must stop treating consultations as box-ticking exercises.

Otherwise, the country will remain trapped between two failures: expensive, fossil-dependent electricity on one side, and stalled clean-energy projects on the other.

The solution is not to abandon hydropower. It is to build it credibly — or lose the public’s permission to build anything at all.