Palm Concepcion Power Plant in Iloilo

Inauguration and ceremonial switch-on of the 135-megawatt Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion of the Palm Concepcion Power Plant in Iloilo province held at Rizal Hall, Malacañan Palace on 28 November 2016.

Circulating fluidized bed is a new technology for coal combustion designed for low pollutant emission. It is said that this technology can absorb 95% of pollutants before being emitted to the atmosphere.

The Palm Concepcion Power Plant is one of the most advanced and fuel-efficient coal-fired power plants. The plant is located in barangay Nipa, Concepcion is located in the northeast shoreline of Iloilo will interconnect with the West (Antique and Iloilo) and North (Capiz and Aklan) Grid. The 270-megawatt power plant is said to supply power generation capacities to the Visayas grid. It is covered by an ERC-approved power supply agreement with distribution utilities in Negros, Cebu, Leyte and Panay.

The plant is planned as a two-stage construction, each with a 135MW generating plant utilizing Indonesian coal as primary fuel and local coal as back-up fuel. The second phase of the plan will commence after six month. ●

The following is the transcript of speech of the President.

SPEECH OF PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

DURING THE INAUGURATION AND CEREMONIAL SWITCH-ON OF THE

135MW CIRCULATING FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION (CFBC) POWER PLANT OF THE PALM CONCEPCION POWER PLANT

Rizal Hall, Malacañan Palace

28 November 2016

Salamat po. Kindly sit down.

Secretary Alfonso Cusi; Dr. Walter Brown; Mr. Roel Castro; Mr. Jacinto Ng Jr.; officials, stakeholders and partners of Palm Concepcion Power Corporation; my beloved workers in government; mga mahal kong kababayan.

You know, talking of oil and somebody is up in arms again. Ito ‘yung mga…I do not know environmentalist, mga ano lang ‘yan environ lang. Environ dito, environ doon and they refused to understand the problem of how to run a country and how to develop it for the next generation.

There is no doubt that—noon pa ‘yan eh. Whatever is really working on fuel eh talagang merong ano ‘yan, hindi mawala. But you have to make also for—to consider along the way in our course of civilization, we have improved tremendously the things that were (garbled) kind, walang problema ‘yan.

And as I see and we rely, I am not a technocrat. I am not a technician. I am just a plain lawyer. Eh ‘yung nababasa ko diyan sa Time Magazine, whatever is the source of good information and the things that we have done to protect planet Earth. Eh ang the argument is why don’t you use the solar and the whatever? Eh kung nandiyan bakit hindi? I have been waiting for the enterprising youth to come to my city and offer these things about solar energy, about wind power.

Eh ang problema sa wind power, nasa utak ng mga lahat ng mga gago dito sa Pilipinas, iyon lang ang may hangin, iyong sa labas wala. You know, everybody is trying to be smart-aleck in this country and you have to live with it.

Coal. It’s the cheapest and probably if we use the modern technology, it’s the safest. I would not mention the place but I was there somewhere in Mindanao and nakita ko ‘yung coal-power plant nila. And it was working well. I could see the steam, it was white. So, medyo siguro parang clouds. Sabi ko magaling ito, hindi madilim. And there was an aviary beside and I could see that the birds there where as healthy as the human beings working there. So wala sigurong problema dito.

And you know what? In that place—ayoko lang magbanggit because ayaw kong mag-advertise baka kompetensiya ninyo. Wala kaming nakita ipinamonitor ko about the cancer-related deaths. Ang sabi ko you make study for the last, you know, 10 years. Few, wala akong na—na there is an epidemic of cancer, wala talaga except that…I really do not know but it’s a worldwide thing including the climate change.

Alam mo ang misgivings ko sa climate change because it’s a ruckus and even President Ramos criticized me for refusing at first. It was a Cabinet decision, hindi ako nag-decide. Sabi ko let’s put it to a vote. Ganito iyan, kung babasahin mo talaga, you know, we are lawyers, we are trained to really read the line and in between the lines.

At nakalagay doon that it’s a binding agreement and all members must agree to it. “Binding”, ibig sabihin you have to exact obedience. Ang problema kapag binasa ko lahat pabalik-balik, there is no sanction. So what’s the..? You have a binding agreement and there is no sanction for a violation.

So it means only one thing that if you are a small nation and you are lump together with the big nations, the highly-industrialized nations, you have to obey. And by the time they would set the limits of emissions ng carbon, tapos ayaw mong maniwala or you might want to ask them for reconsideration because you are a growing nation and you are supposed to accept all that would like to do business because we need the money to advance our Republic.

Ngayon naman, nakita ko, abugado kasi ako…Kapag ang China pati Russia, Amerika, ayaw nilang maniwala, can we pressure them to obey? Especially America. He was not a signatory in the Kyoto Protocol. That was the first attempt to really try to create a body to control carbon emissions. And yet America did not sign it for the longest time.

Now they come up with this idiotic thing about climate change and it was they crafted in Europe. Well and good if it’s really good for the humanity.

Ang problema sabi ko, what if it is the big nations now or those who contributed the common funds of 200 billion? Sinong mag…? Who will give the money? America? Hindi nga nakabayad diyan sa fees niya sa—tuition fee niya sa UN. Wala yang silang bayad-bayad. Kung kaming maliliit you get all the sanctions. The usual refrain is, ‘we’ll cut off the aid and assistance’ and all the threats that you get as a small guy and yet they have the say in the big things.

Pangalawa, sinong magbigay? Where will the 200 billion come? Common fund to… Remember as falsely reported by the pretentious people, guy here in the Philippines, it’s not intended, you look at the law, it is not intended as a payment. You do not get paid because you suffered in a typhoon because of climate change. It is actually a common fund where you can borrow and start to build maybe whatever gadgets and everything that could promote to a minimal thing your carbon emissions.

So iyan ang problema ngayon. Sabi ko: ‘Who gets the deal here?’ Kasi kung tayong Pilipinas kapag sinabi nila, well, last year you are… Hindi na kailangan eh they want .3. The national law says it’s 73 ang atin. That is the target of the law in the Philippines. You did not really follow ‘yung gusto nilang .3. But that is only the beginning.

You know how the big nations really go around international treaties and convention to circumvent? Iyan ang problema natin. Kaya sabi ko ayaw ko niyan. Walang sanction at kung wala ka naman i-contribute and tapos they would demand you to a lower—because they have been getting higher. Iyon nga ang sabi ko sa ambassador ng EU. Nagalit itong mga gago na ito kasi sinabi ko sa kanya: ‘What would be the standards that you would use in putting a limit?’ Kasi sabi ko, you guys, the big nations, all the past centuries during the industrialization stage of the world, you the big ones, kayo ‘yung nag-pollute.’ Until now—even the Philippines it’s only .03. So ibig sabihin kayo ‘yung sumira. If there is a climate change at all, at this time, it is your undoing, hindi sa amin.

Now, why would I be a member and you dictate the terms because you are the contributors of the common 200 billion na wala pang siguro? I don’t think that even America would honor that. Itong America is known to—ayaw magbayad. Pati ‘yung sa United Nations tuition natin lahat. Maraming utang yang buwang na ‘yan, my God.

Kaya sabi ko, those are actually my misgivings. But you know how media is. I don’t know what they want me to look and smell bad. No need because I really look and smell bad and my mouth is discourteous. Problema na ninyo iyan. That’s what it is.

Iyon ang ano ko but we need the power plants to drive our economy. Kulang talaga. And if you are thinking also of the past days that you have to go into a shutdown or whatever brownouts and I…

Iyong diyan sa Davao, talagang pumayag ako because talagang shortfall of supply. And there was a time that we were suffering the whole day and this cannot go on. So when it was proposed to me at first time, I said, okay, just make sure that my city will get enough supply to run us. Para magkaroon naman kami ng (unclear). And true enough, in the days in between until now, we get ample supply.

And I am waiting for the day of kingdom come, wala namang—expect for the typhoon. But the problem sa typhoon is that we are the window facing the Pacific. We are the first country and if there is a warming there—the cold and hot thing combination—ang tatamaan talagang una tayo because we are in the Pacific Ocean and we are the, I said, facing the first nation to be hit aside from the Marianas and the Guam islands. Tayo eh. But that’s about it.

Kaya ‘yung Yolanda talagang tinamaan tayo nang husto. But once it hits a landfall whether you like it or not, it slows down because it bumps into so many things. Land mass, mountains and all trees. Pero no surprise to me that we had the most severe consequence.

Climate change is there maybe. I am not sure now. But mankind should also calibrate itself but as we go along the way, we improve on the maybe the gadgets that could really emit—emissions that are harmful to human being.

Ang civilization naman is active on that. There is always a parity between the effect and how you get by and the science and they call this…They do not call it anymore the inventions but the innovations of the countries as we go along the way.

So wala akong problema diyan. Ang latest ruckus ko lang dito sa gobyerno with the—itong ERC, the Energy Regulatory.

Alam mo I have been trying to look at the iyong opisina nila, ang gastos nila. Mas marami pa ‘yung consultants anak ng…Ubos ang pera ng gobyerno nito. Milking cow iyan. Karaming consultansts ninyo.

Saan pala ang utak nitong mga gagong ito? Bakit mo ba kailangan ng hundreds of consultants to…? Ubos ang pera natin nito. That was really one of my misgivings. Reviewing the ano but I was just keeping quiet until pumutok ‘yung may namatay. But meron na akong naririnig.

Now look guys, if I cannot trust a body that regulates the prices, kung magkano ang bayaran ni Juan dela Cruz, eh magkakaproblema tayo niyan.

If you give me a hint about corruption and definitely just owned by a few families or ruling families dito sa Pilipinas, Oligarchs, maybe not na inherited na ano, okay lang yan. But limitado dito, tapos kayo corrupt, I will not be comfortable.

So nakita ko ‘yung sordid record ninyo plus the questionable decisions in the past, I demanded for their resignations.

Eh ayaw nila, well and good. Then I will ask Congress to abolish the positions. Then I will just give it to the administrative body at first then maybe we can… Because I cannot be controlled by a department. It’s a quasi. Regulatory nga e. It’s a quasi- judicial body, should not be under with anybody.

We can recreate that immediately maybe before the year ends. But nawalan ako ng gana doon sa ginawa nila. And it was not done in a manner that would…Hindi naman ako. I am not against providing whatever, employment or enough money for this guy to make the day. But ang problema ko diyan is there’s an abuse of authority in this power.

So if I don’t trust you anymore, I cannot. Tao ‘yang nakataya diyan eh. It is the bulk of the humankind. ‘Wag na masyado ‘yung mga mayayaman, kaya niya ‘yan.

Problema ‘yung mahihirap tapos nandiyan ka, tapos corrupt ka. Eh magkakaproblema tayo.

Now, this climate change, I really don’t know what would be the result at the end of the day. But I am pretty sure that… I just hope that the nations controlling the interests there including the money that they will contribute or the common fund which I think we are not qualified to be in there, ayusin lang nila because ‘pag hindi eh magwi-withdraw ako. I’ll be the first one. Kung ayaw ninyo then…

Because I am trying to develop my country. I have been inviting everybody who has expressed their sentiment to invest here. And I am also being requested by most of my Cabinet technocrats na mag-industrial zones ka.

And when it comes to a fore with the regulations of the whatever that ‘yung climate change nila, magkaka-deperensiya ako diyan kasi ayaw ko talaga. Do not…Because, you know, mabuti kayo all those years you were spewing a lot of poison in the air, unbridled, unbothered, nobody molested you because you were the kings at that time. And you were doing it for so many centuries.

Kami dito would want even just not in parity but just as where we need development is. Kung pigilan ninyo kami away iyan, away iyan kasi ako kailangan ko with 104 million Filipinos and we are the second fastest producing of human beings, we have to keep pace with…Hindi natin…That is one thing that we cannot stop. That is the favorite pastime of everybody. Libre iyan eh. Hindi naman energy na nagbabayad ka. So we will just have to adjust especially ako…Wala bang pari dito? Kasi ayaw din kasi ng Katoliko eh. Dapat talaga niyan…Kasi kung bigyan ko ng ano…Ako doon sa Davao talagang ipinipilit ko sa mga tao.

So may mahanap kang trabaho? Sabihin mo, ‘ilan ang anak mo?’ ‘Anim’. ‘Buntis ka?’ ‘Buntis’. ‘Pag anak mo, magpa- ligate ka, tapos balik ka sa akin’. Ganyan. Wala. Ayaw ko ng ano. Namimigay talaga ako ng pang-vasec—sa ligate, pati vasectomy.

Pero walang takers ang mga lalaki because of that crazy notion that you will lose the erection if something there is cut unintentionally. Eh dapat nga lahat eh. Anim, pito, walo ‘yung anak mo putulin mo na ‘yang. That’s the problem, I said you have to keep pace with the problems of our country. Iyan ang isa diyan.

So now in dealing with this kind of itong mga ganito, better be careful about the—itong malalaki. Ako I…Mag-away ako and if I may just add or additionally. Itong mga…

You know, I was just into about months when I was being hit by extrajudicial killing. Meron talagang well, politics.

You would… Kindly remember that even weeks before I took my oath of office marami ng patayan. And I told you during the campaign, that there were a lot of generals involved.

And I even asked them to resign before kung manalo ako kasi there will be a—magkagulo tayo. And so even before I became a President, there were already killings. They were really trying to purge everybody. May cleansing sila eh. It was not until two months that we began the legit operations of the police.

Iyong mga encounters talaga. Iyong nakita ninyo na ibinabalot ng ano, we are not producing mummies in this country. Bakit balutin ko pa ‘yan? Patayin—barilin mo na lang sa ulo tapos iwanan mo. Those were the tortures and they were the one extracting information, who knows that, who knows what. Iyan sila.

But too early itong Amerikano, first the Commission on Human Rights, tapos sundan ng mga state department, okay lang ‘yan. Ngayon, when I was mayor I was already known for…And I was investigated by ano na—United Nations noon. There was a rapporteur Philip Alston. Then series of—’yung asawa ni Samson, si Delilah. (laughter) She was the Human Rights, she investigated me. She was the Secretary of Justice, she investigated me. She became a Senator, she allowed this noise about me.

Wala…Kaya siya pala. But what is really very tragic I told President Arroyo, she was here, was that pinakamasama talaga is she was the Secretary of Justice and she was doing it all along. No offense intended kung believer ka kay Delilah pero…Wala naman sa akin…

Ang ayaw ko sa Amerikano is they criticized me. Often on, okay lang and Human Rights Commission. Crime? If they have the goods, file the case and I’ll see you in court. Tapos (garbled) huling dumating ‘yung kay Obama.

You know when I was mayor of Davao City, you can criticize me on the side. But when I became President of the Philippines, you should have avoided it for reasons of not only delicadeza, international committee and practice. Presidente na ako eh tapos bira-birahan mo ako just of off the cuff statement na pati si Obama. Then every statement there is always a threat that you would cut the assistance and aid to the Philippines.

Doon ako na…Kaya sinabi ko, ‘hoy, mga p*** i ninyo.’ There is a Visayan idiom actually I don’t know if—”patay-gutom”. So it just means that you are almost there because you are hungry.

Sabi ko, ‘Do not characterize…’ Every time we are like dogs leashed on post at ganito lang kahaba iyong tali and then you throw the bones or the bread so the Filipino would be gagging just to get a bite of the food. Sabi ko sumusobra na kayong mga p** i** kayo. Talagang p* i* sila. I don’t give a shit. They are always robbing our dignity.

I was…Ganun ang bunganga ko. I was all along early on very subdued because ayaw kong magbinastos eh. Pero kapag ginanun mo ako, sabi ko, do not do it to me. I will not take it sitting down.

Kaya sabi ko, ‘Obama, you can go to hell.’ Tapos ngayon, sabi nila, ayaw nilang magpabili ng baril. Eh bakit? Kayo lang ba ang marunong gumawa ng baril? Eh sa Danao marami eh.

Pagawa na ako doon or I’ll go to Russia kasi kaibigan ko na si Putin eh. President Putin seldom, very seldom that he smiles. Pero ‘nung nagkaibigan kami every time we shake hand, he smiles at me. Sabi ko, kaibigan ko na si Putin. And we have this agreement, wala gyud, iyong agreement na kung bibili ako sa Russia, buy one take one ako sa baril nila. (laughter) Bali kayong lahat. So that’s about it.

I just wanted you to know the dimensions of it all. We are not good today because finally, finally the intelligence community advised me that ISIS has (fightily?) connected with a group in the Philippines called the Maute. There is a raging war now in Lanao.

I will just go to Fort Magsaysay tomorrow to inaugurate the structure that was given to us by one Chinese philanthropist. They say that guy started here in the Philippines but when Deng Xiaoping opened China to investments and all, pumunta siya doon, millionaire. He contributed a structure good for 10 million drug addicts. So siya lang ang nakabigay talaga ng ganung kalaki. So I am flying there. 10,000 rather, 10,000 drug addicts kasama na ‘yung medisina. So napakabait ng mama na iyan. But then I will go also to Marawi.

I am not trying to scare you but can I please have the …Dala-dala ko ipinakita ko kay Presidente Arroyo eh. Sabi ko, ‘ma’am, we are in a bind. I really do not know how to—surrender na ako, sabi ko, hindi ko kaya ito.’ Even assuming publicly that I can kill them, I would not have the time and resources to do it. This is the drug industry of the Philippines. [shows the narco-list] Lahat iyan pangalan.

Ito pangalan ito. Pulis, barangay captain, mga…It’s actually a list. Ito lahat ‘yan. Hindi naman lahat ‘yan kasi ‘yung iba—because I was looking at the problem. Ang standard ko kasi sa intelligence report was a standard of a lawyer. So hindi ako pwede ‘yang nasabi doon at nasabi dito. Double ano na—hearsay. So nilaglag ko na ‘yung iba. And it’s about 5,000…

You know, before you go out of this room, we were already a narco-politics. In fairness to the presidents, I would not want to zero in on what particular administration.

But we were already a narco-politics state given the so many thousands of policemen, municipal mayors, and mayors involved.

Now, the portals of the national government to the contamination of narco-politics was opened by, sadly, De Lima. Siya ‘yung unang nagpunta doon sa…

And if you have time, you can order that book Ioan Grillo, I-O-A-N G-R-I-L-L-O, it’s online you can buy it siguro sa…It traces the history of a how narco-politics swept the entire Latin America. How led to be destruction, sila Escobar.

And if you can read book you—you’d, you would see the—that we are kung baga stage—kung cancer we already in stage two. Because karamihan ng barangay captains diyan, nandiyan easy money. And had I acceded to an election this year for the barangay captains, we would have lost to the money of the drug industry.

Ganoon ka-delikado ang…Sabi ng Human Rights, pinapatay ko raw, sabi ko ‘sige na maghinto tayo, paramihin natin.’ Para ‘pag panahon ng harvest time mas marami na tuloy mamatay, isali ko na kayo kasi kayo ang nagpalaki eh.

Well, I said maybe whether you supported me or not, I am your President and I will never allow my country to be thrown to the dogs.

That’s the reason why they kept on pinning me because I said when I was mayor—kayong mga taga-Davao alam na ninyo ‘yan—I said: If you destroy my city with drugs, I will kill you. If you destroy the youth of my city, I will kill you.

In the same manner that when I became President I said: If you destroy my country, I will kill you. Make no doubt about it. If you destroy the generation of Filipinos coming up to replace us, I will kill you. Simple as that.

Kung hindi maintindihan ng Human Rights, kung ganoon kayo ka-bugok, ‘eh wala akong magawa para sa inyo. Pati ‘yung EU isa ‘yan, they kept on hammering me about that statement.

When was…When is it or when was it a crime to say I will kill you if—in protecting my country? Kailan pa naging kasalanan ‘yung sabihin mo kapag ginalaw mo ‘yung bayan ko pati ‘yung mga anak ko, papatayin kita? Ito namang—naku, Diyos ko.

Kaya nga sabi ko, huwag kayong maniwala diyan mga European lawyers puro bugok ‘yan, ay sus maniwala kayo. Dito kayo makinig sa Filipino mas bright—ano, stupid. Iyong brain nila just like a pea. Hanggang kailan mo na—takutin mo ako na ikulong mo ako? International Criminal Court, bullshit.

Ang Amerika mismo ang nagtatakot sa akin na ipakulong sa International Criminal Court is not a signatory of that body. Why? Because at that time they were afraid Bush will get it.

Using a phrase of a charter or document na hindi naman sila signatory. Tingnan mo kagaguhan ng—sinasabi ko gusto ko kayong murahin uli pero huwag nalang kasi—I am before an audience—pardon my language. Pero talagang bastos ang bunganga ko, nasanay ako ‘eh pasensiya na kayo.

Next time na you might want to, doon na lang tayo sa Vice President magpa-sworn, huwag na dito. (laughter) Buti ‘yan kay mabait, the smile of Mona Lisa.

So I’d like to congratulate Palm Corporation. Mr. Brown, you’re as—double the Filipino as you claim you are. You are a patriot. You have helped the country. Do not worry about pollution, it’s always be there. It is up to our mankind to innovate and—you know come up with something a good gadget that would compensate for all of these things, because we cannot.

For the life of—we cannot abandon the sources of energy. Sun? Wind? Karamihan ng hangin sa Pilipino nasa politiko lahat (laughter) nasa ulo nila.

Wala… We have none. The cheapest way is really to have coal. Just be careful that the in the operation of the enterprise, we do not get so much in trouble also with the regulators of our country.

The environment… Si Gina patay ka. Si Gina…By the way, I re-appointed her, na-bypass siya ‘eh. But I like her and she’s okay, very strict, I like that. She is not corrupt, I like that. And she cannot be corrupted, I also like that.

Why? Because I want my country also at least relatively safe from every predators from all sorts.

Maraming salamat po. ●