Why are Masungi caretakers opposing a wind energy project?

For renowned environmental conservationists, there is irony in seeing them oppose a renewable energy project.

Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. (MGFI), which oversees the management of popular ecotourism site Masungi Georeserve, has been leading the opposition to the proposed 603-megawatt wind farm of Rizal Wind Energy Corporation (RWEC).

Renewable energy is the future, and the faster the shift to cleaner energy, the better for a warming planet. Advocates would normally support this cause. So why do Masungi’s caretakers consider the project a “critical threat”?

The massive wind project would cut across several villages in Antipolo and Tanay – areas covered by the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape. A coalition of green groups, which Masungi convened, has warned that the project may harm the watershed, the Sierra Madre, and the karst conservation area.

“The issue is not whether turbines sit on exposed limestone, but whether the project footprint overlaps a designated karst landscape – which it does, based on the project’s own ECC [Environmental Compliance Certificate],” Billie Dumaliang, managing trustee of the foundation, said.

Coordinates of the wind project, according to its Environmental Compliance Certificate or ECC, show its vicinity in natural tourist attractions such as Masungi Georeserve, Nagpatong Rock Formation, Mount Purro Nature Reserve, several camping and farm resorts scattered in the mountains of Rizal province. The coordinates are located on 13 ridges. The main project substation will be in Barangay San Jose in Antipolo, Rizal.

Vena Energy, RWEC’s parent firm, says they undertake “proactive measures like site selection, infrastructural design, and operational efficiency” to minimize environmental impact in their renewable projects.

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Overlaps between georeserve and wind project?

In 2024, Masungi filed a petition before the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR EMB) for a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against “unauthorized activities” of the energy firm.

The following year, the DENR EMB thumbed down the petition. The environment department said, in its letter dated July 30, 2025, that there has been no operation or ongoing construction at the site since the issuance of the ECC. The ECC was granted in 2020.

“No sufficient basis has been established to conclude the existence of grave or irreparable environmental damage that would necessitate the issuance of a CDO,” the DENR EMB said.

The agency said RWEC has been submitting reports in a timely manner, coordinating with concerned government agencies, and refraining from unauthorized activities.

In less than a month after receipt of the denial letter, Masungi filed a motion for reconsideration. They stressed that some of the project’s coordinates are located quite near the georeserve, the karst conservation area, and Masungi’s newer reforestation site (called the Geopark) covered by a 2017 contract with the DENR.

Masungi claimed in its motion that RWEC lacks requirements for an ECC application.

The foundation is not without its tussle with the environment department over land in Rizal. In March 2025, the DENR cancelled its contract with Masungi which covers the area where the georeserve is located.

Other cases in Rizal

RWEC’s proposed wind energy project is not the only one facing scrutiny in the province.

Birders and advocates have raised alarm over the cutting of around 8,000 trees along the Marilaque Highway for the transport of Alternergy’s wind turbines from Quezon to Rizal. The project has a potential capacity of 112 megawatts (MW).

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But not all wind energy projects in Rizal have encountered rough sailing. The 54MW Pililia Wind Farm, completed in 2015, is now a tourist destination, drawing in thousands of visitors per week.

The wind project consisting of 27 wind turbines in Pililia is a joint venture between Alternergy and Vena Energy.

Open highlands, such as some areas in Rizal’s mountains, are good locations for wind energy projects due to higher, consistent wind speed and less obstructions. – Rappler.com