By HENRY EMPEÑO | December 8, 2025

OLONGAPO CITY — Government officials and community leaders have expressed strong opposition to the proposal of Aboitiz-led AP Renewable Energy Corp. (APREC) to build and operate a second solar facility in this city, pointing out the potential harm to the environment and danger to surrounding communities.

APREC, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Renewables, Inc., has built a 221-megawatt (MW) solar farm last year at the foothills of Brgy. New Cabalan in Olongapo and has proposed a 179.26-MW expansion farm at nearby Brgy. Sta. Rita at a cost of P7.6 billion.

However, key city officials have publicly rejected the second project at Sta. Rita’s Balimpuyo Ridge that straddles residential areas in Old Cabalan, Sta. Rita and Gordon Heights, which are some of the most flood-prone barangays here.

Public clamor against the project intensified after floodings last July, which inundated 16 of the 17 villages in Olongapo. Residents blamed it mostly on the solar farm project that allegedly resulted in deforestation and silting of waterways flowing directly to low-lying areas.

Vice Mayor Kaye Ann Legaspi, in a November 27 statement posted on social media, said she is not in favor of the Phase 2 expansion of APREC’s solar farm.

“As your Vice Mayor, it is my duty to protect the welfare and safety of the public. I am with Olongapeños in their firm opposition to Phase 2 solar farm expansion in our city,” she said.

“I am not against renewable energy. But (the project) must be responsible, open, and truly aligned with the welfare of the community it claims to serve,” she added.

Legaspi, as city councilor in 2022, had joined seven other members of the Olongapo city council in authorizing Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. to negotiate for the establishment of the first solar farm in the city, noting that the project “is consistent with the State’s policy of accelerating the exploration, development and utilization of renewable energy resources, including solar energy.”

Mayor Paulino, himself, had endorsed the project to the Sanggunian on April 6, 2022, asking for “swift action” on two measures: a resolution approving the Olongapo Solar Power Project, and another authorizing him to enter into a memorandum of agreement on the solar project with Aboitiz Power Corporation.

However, following public resistance to the Aboitiz proposal, Paulino and Legaspi are now saying that a solar farm, if it would be built atop Mt. Balimpuyo, won’t get their approval.

“As mayor, I would need complete information before I say my position on this issue,” Paulino said in an interview with Brigada News FM Olongapo radio on November 29. “But if they’re going to have the project on Mt. Balimpuyo, it’s uncertain that we would approve it.”

Legaspi also said she supported the Phase 1 project in good faith, and with the belief in the potential of renewable energy for the city based on information presented to them.

“But this Phase 2 proposal is different,” Legaspi said. “Again, I say: I am not in favor of Phase 2 solar project expansion. We welcome clean energy, but not at the expense of our people and our safety.”

Gordon Heights Barangay Chairman Etchie Ponge, who represents the Association of Barangay Councils in the city council, said residents are now signing a petition against the solar farm expansion project.

“The residents really oppose this. They don’t like it because a lot would be negatively affected,” she told Brigada News in another interview.

Ponge said she attended the public scoping held on November 21 in Sta. Rita, and did not get any satisfactory answer from project proponents when she asked about their plans for slope protection.

“It’s better if they bring their project elsewhere, where no trees would be cut and no houses are directly below the project site,” Ponge added. 