Consunji-led Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC) filed a redundancy notice for 462 mine-site employees with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
The company said the cuts were driven by uncertainty surrounding the coal mine auction of the Department of Energy (DOE). SMPC said it will be mitigated by an assistance program offering retraining and redeployment within the DMCI Group.
SMPC reduced its 2026 production target as part of its operational planning in light of the impending coal auction which is expected to take place between August and September.
Its existing coal operating contract (COC) is set to expire on July 14, 2027.
‘We recognize the impact of this decision on our affected employees and their families, and we will do our best to support them through this transition,’ said Maria Cristina C Gotianun, SMPC president and chief operating officer.
Aside from the separation benefits provided under labor law and company policy, SMPC’s Employee Assistance Program will offer opportunities for redeployment within the DMCI Group, financial literacy training, skills retraining, livelihood support, relocation support, and job placement services in the mining and energy sectors. As of the end of July, SMPC employed 4,045 people, including more than 2,000 employees from its host communities.Last month, SMPC petitioned a Makati court for protection against the DOE from sharing the company’s detailed list of assets and propriety information with interested bidders.
In April, the DOE received keen interests from five firms-Limay Power Inc. (LPI), Malita Power Inc. (MPI), TSR/Sta. Clara, DESCO, and SMPC. According to the DOE, SMPC can still participate in the bidding.
SMPC said that since it owns these assets by virtue of its COC and the Coal Development Act (PD 972), these should not be made available for the use of other bidders and should therefore not be considered in their bid submissions.
The government, it said, can own the assets only if SMPC fails to remove them from the production and exploration area, within one year after the termination of its contract in July 2027.
‘Government ownership of these assets is merely future and conditional. The bidding is supposed to choose a winner that has a viable mine plan and knows how to run one to make sure coal production is seamless to protect the country’s baseload electricity generation. It is not about SMPC and how it runs the mine,’ the company added.