Coal is quietly becoming a recurring item on the Bislig City Council's agenda. In 2026, the Sangguniang Panlungsod cleared four applications for small-scale coal mining in two barangays, then followed up with requests to the Department of Energy (DOE) for maps of the city's coal resources.

The four applications

Each of the following resolutions "interposes no objection" to an application for small-scale coal mining:

  • Resolution No. 2026-552 (July 7, 2026): Victor O. Carmen, Purok 1, Barangay Pamaypayan
  • Resolution No. 2026-636 (August 4, 2026): Maria Teresa B. Sagusay, Purok 2, Barangay San Jose
  • Resolution No. 2026-637 (August 4, 2026): Conrado A. Caberte, Jr., Purok 4, Barangay Pamaypayan
  • Resolution No. 2026-638 (August 4, 2026): Aljy C. Coralde, Purok 4, Barangay Pamaypayan

All four were sponsored by Councilors Romeo F. Cacayan, Apolio C. Alvar and Victor B. Alvar, Jr., IP Representative Florio S. Josafat, Jr. and Vice Mayor Conrad C. Cejoco.

The two resolutions Bislig Today reviewed in full describe the same process. Each application came to the council through an endorsement letter from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (City ENRO), with reports from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and City ENRO certifying that the land applied for meets their requirements. Each also carried a barangay document: a Pamaypayan barangay council resolution of no objection for Carmen, and a certification from the San Jose punong barangay for Sagusay. After reviewing the papers, the council found everything "to be in order."

What a 'no objection' does and does not mean

A council resolution is not a mining permit. In the Philippines, small-scale coal mining permits are handled by the DOE, under a program that dates to 1987. That program's original circular limited each permit to a compact area of no more than five hectares with a coal reserve of no more than 50,000 metric tons, and required applicants to be residents of the area as certified by the barangay captain and mayor.

The DOE has been working to update those rules. In November 2025, its Energy Resource Development Bureau held public consultations on a draft circular that would tighten environmental safeguards, protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, simplify permitting and clarify grounds for cancelling permits, the Daily Tribune reported. Bislig Today has not confirmed whether that draft has been finalized.

The council asks where the coal is

The council then went further. Resolution No. 2026-694 (August 18, 2026) asks the DOE Mindanao Field Office, through Director Nilo J. Geroche, for a "comprehensive and indicative map" of where coal resources are located in Bislig. Resolution No. 2026-772 (September 15, 2026) repeats the request and adds records of "coal mining activities, and other coal-related operations" in the city.

Both say there are "potential coal reserves" within Bislig's boundaries and that an official map would let the city set environmental safeguards, identify possible economic zones and make sure energy activities "do not adversely encroach upon protected environments, agricultural lands, or residential communities."

A proposed 100-hectare coal stockyard

Resolution No. 2026-693, also adopted on August 18, 2026, asks DENR's Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) to identify a 100-hectare lot within Bislig's timberland for a DOE "Shared and Centralized Facility for Coal Stockyard and Processing." The council says a single site would prevent "scattered operations," centralize environmental safeguards and keep coal handling away from homes, businesses and prime farmland.

Bislig Today found no DOE announcement about such a facility in Bislig as of October 24, 2026.

Sources: City of Bislig, Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution Nos. 2026-552, 2026-636, 2026-637, 2026-638, 2026-693, 2026-694 and 2026-772, published at bislig.gov.ph; Bureau of Energy Development Circular No. 87-03-001; Daily Tribune, "DOE seeks public input on coal rules" (November 3, 2025).