SEMIRARA Mining and Power Corp., the mining and power generation arm of Consunji-led DMCI Holdings Inc., intends to maintain its coal output as the country faces heightened energy risks and the company braces for the approaching expiry of its mining contract.
“[The situation is] very critical right now, especially coal supplies,” Semirara President and Chief Operating Officer Maria Cristina Gotianun told reporters, emphasizing the mine’s unique challenges, including water intrusion at its below-sea-level operations.
Gotianun noted that managing water inflows was particularly crucial as failure to control these could halt operations within days.
Semirara currently supplies about 35 percent of the country’s domestic baseload power, making its continued operation vital as oil prices remain elevated due to war in the Middle East. It is also the largest domestic coal producer in the Philippines, accounting for 97 percent of output.
Gotianun last March noted that Semirara’s operations in 2025 delivered record coal production, although profit dropped 33 percent to P13.060 billion mainly on lower coal and electricity prices, among other factors.
Despite this, she added that Semirara was “working to broaden our markets while keeping our mines and power plants running well.”
Last February, the Justice department rejected the company’s bid to extend its 50-year mining concession on Semirara Island — set to expire on July 2027 — by another 13 years.
The contract is now set to be auctioned by the Department of Energy (DOE) within the year, with April 28 as the deadline for submission of mine plans for the upcoming coal block auction. Semirara can still join the bidding and final results are expected around 30 days later.
Gotianun said the DOE was likely to focus more on technical competence than on the bidders’ financial offers, but added that should Semirara lose to another bidder, it has one year to remove equipment, adding urgency to the process.
Isidro Consunji, chairman and president of DMCI Holdings Inc., said it would be difficult for new entrants to match the company’s experience.
“Highly improbable that somebody can present a superior mining plan to Semirara,” he said, noting that the bidding process was a legal requirement rather than a reflection of operational deficiencies.
Meanwhile, both Gotianun and Consunji indicated that discussions with Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which had expressed interest in Semirara’s operations, had not progressed.
“There’s no update... we have not met them afterwards,” Gotianun said, adding that no approach has been made for a joint bid.
Semirara shares closed at P28.95 each last Wednesday, up by 1.05 percent, while parent firm DMCI Holdings slipped 1.5 percent to P9.83 each.
Philippine financial markets were closed beginning Thursday for a Holy Week break and will reopen today.
