Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC), a company that mines coal and produces electricity in the Philippines, has filed a petition with a Makati court. According to the disclosure filed on July 17, 2026, the company is asking the court to protect it from repeated requests by the Department of Energy (DOE) to share detailed private business information with other companies who want to bid for the Semirara mine.

What’s the Problem?

Think of it this way: Imagine you built a really cool treehouse with special tools and decorations you bought with your own money. Now, someone wants other kids to compete to take over your treehouse, and they’re asking you to tell all those kids exactly what tools you have and how you built it. That’s basically what’s happening to SMPC.

The DOE has sent SMPC four separate letters asking the company to provide:

• A complete list of all its assets (things the company owns)
• Geological and technical data (information about rocks and mining methods)
• A detailed list of equipment, including special pumps that keep water out of the Acacia mine

Why Are the Pumps So Important?

SMPC explained that the Acacia mine has a serious water problem – there’s a strong flow of water (like a river) trying to get into the mine. The company uses special pumps that work non-stop to keep the water out. According to SMPC, if these pumps stop working, the entire Acacia mine could flood and become completely unusable. This would mean losing about half of all the coal that can be recovered from the island.

Who Actually Owns These Assets?

This is where SMPC and the DOE disagree. SMPC says it owns all these assets because of its coal operating contract and a law called the Coal Development Act (PD 972). The company argues that these assets shouldn’t be shared with other bidders because they won’t be available for them to use anyway.

According to SMPC, the government can only own these assets if the company fails to remove them within one year after their contract ends in July 2027. Since that hasn’t happened yet, SMPC says government ownership is “merely future and conditional” – meaning it’s not certain and hasn’t happened yet.

The DOE, on the other hand, believes that once SMPC has recovered its costs (gotten back the money it spent), the equipment automatically becomes government property.

What Does SMPC Want?

SMPC believes each company that wants to bid for the Semirara mine should do its own homework – conduct its own studies and come up with its own plans – rather than just copying SMPC’s work from decades of experience and investment.

The company emphasizes that its court petition is not meant to stop or delay the bidding process. Instead, SMPC just wants the court to clarify the legal issues to protect its own legal and financial interests.

About Semirara Mining and Power Corporation

SMPC is a publicly listed company in the Philippine Stock Exchange with the stock symbol SMPC. The company has 4,250,547,620 common shares outstanding. It operates under Coal Operating Contract No. 5, which is set to expire in July 2027.

What Happens Next?

SMPC stated that it remains committed to participating in the bidding process, cooperating with the DOE, and following all regulatory requirements. The company also clarified that this legal filing has no impact on its current mining operations, which will continue operating normally until the contract expires in July 2027.

This article is based on the company’s official press release and disclosures filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Electronic Disclosure Generation Technology (PSE EDGE) system. For the complete and official version of the announcement, readers may visit the PSE EDGE website and search for the company’s filing directly.