Protect VIP on JBIC’s Examination Report on the Ilijan LNG Import Terminal Project
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), solely owned by the Japanese government, is washing its hands off the severe environmental and economic damages it has enabled in the Amazon of the oceans, the Verde Island Passage.
In December 2023, Protect VIP, led by fisherfolk and local community members, filed a complaint against JBIC for its failure to monitor the environmental compliance of Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) and Linseed Field Corporation (Linseed) regarding its LNG import terminal in Brgy. Ilijan, Batangas City.
After months of investigation, the resulting examination report ultimately fails to recognize JBIC’s violation of its own environmental guidelines, despite acknowledging that there have been infractions of Philippine laws. The report confirmed the violation of provisions under the Philippine Coconut Preservation Act, acknowledging that there used to be a presence of coconut trees on the project site. However, it unfoundedly claims that cutting of these trees preceded the construction of the LNG import terminal in December 2021 and far before AG&P’s investment in Linseed.
Recognizing that land use conversion was carried out without the necessary land conversion order by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the report also affirmed the violation of DAR Administrative Order No. 2002-01. AG&P and Linseed also continued project development even after DAR had issued a CDO, which the report has also acknowledged.
These admissions of Philippine law violations contradict the JBIC Guidelines for Confirmation of Environmental and Social Considerations, which state that “projects must comply with laws and regulations, and standards relating to environmental and social considerations established by the governments governing the project site (including both national and local governments).
JBIC has also reduced our valid claims of a significant decline in fish catch and water quality by brushing these off as merely ‘theoretical possibilities’, further claiming that fisherfolk petitioners ‘did not incur damages’ from the project. Downplaying the lived realities of fisherfolk and local communities affected by the Ilijan LNG terminal facility is outright insulting to those who have borne the brunt of gas developments that JBIC has made possible.
As the significant decline in fish catch and deteriorating water quality endanger the livelihood of fisherfolk communities along the coasts of the Verde Island Passage, the Philippines’ energy giants – led by San Miguel Corporation, Meralco, and Aboitiz Power – continue to amass profits at the cost of people and the environment, especially in the Verde Island Passage. All these companies have entered agreements for collaboration with JBIC and have inked a joint venture to own the AG&P LNG terminal and two gas power plants in a P3.3-billion deal.
This disappointing investigation conduct and result affirms the alarming role that Japanese public funds continue to play in emboldening accelerated gas and fossil fuel buildout in highly biodiverse yet climate-vulnerable developing nations like ours – at the expense of our people’s very means of living and our hope for a just energy transition. Recently, the Philippine government signed into law an act seeking to advance the development of the gas industry in the Philippines, threatening to lock Filipinos in more decades of destructive and costly energy.
While these developments escalate, we remain firm on protecting the Verde Island Passage. We will not be fooled by JBIC’s attempt to wash its hands of this matter at the cost of communities and critical ecosystems in the VIP. The Japanese government is brazen in its act of pouring state funds into the destruction of the environment and communities around the VIP.
We will not let JBIC’s violations pass. The Japanese government must be held accountable.
We urge the Japanese government to rigorously revisit JBIC’s investigation on the VIP and its investigation process as a whole, knowing that the mechanism has given justice to no complainant since it was established. With such clear violations against Philippine law, we also demand that the Japanese government suspend disbursement or withdraw financing for the AG&P and Linseed LNG import facility. Finally, we demand an end to Japan’s continued financing of fossil gas and fossil fuels in our region and the rest of the world.
Father Edwin Gariguez
Lead Convenor
Protect VIP