SEA turtles still scramble from the waters of Batangas Bay, paddling up the sand to bury their eggs. Coral reefs that some marine biologists call the Amazon of the ocean lie just offshore, home to giant clams, nurturing small fish, which in turn are prey for manta rays.
But above the surface, the land is changed.
The fishing village of Santa Clara in Batangas City is now surrounded by four power-generating stations, all burning natural gas. The construction isn't over. Four more power plants that burn natural gas are planned for the coastline. What was a string of fishing villages is now an industrial zone.
The Philippines is going all in for electricity made via climate-damaging combustion, with almost two dozen power stations planned and the ambition to become a gas hub for the entire Asia-Pacific region.
When natural gas is super-chilled into a liquid, special tanker ships can transport millions of cubic feet of it at a time, and the global trade in liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is growing fast.
It's one of the world's largest natural gas power buildouts and will contribute to climate change at a time when alternative, renewable electricity has never been cheaper.
"It's mindboggling that the Philippines, a climate-vulnerable country, would still pursue dirty fuels which exacerbate climate disasters," said Gerry Arances, executive director of the Philippine nonprofit Center for Energy, Ecology and Development.
Natural gas causes warming of the atmosphere both when it leaks out, unburned, and when it is burned for heat or electricity.
Experts who have studied the country found its future growth could be met entirely with renewables; reliance on natural gas will make power more expensive for Filipinos, and there will be other environmental costs.
Wilma Abanil, a grandmother of four, witnessed changes after the first plant opened in 2002. Within two years, the fish catch was falling, she said. It grew worse as more plants opened.
"Before, when you worked really hard, you could send your children to school," Abanil said. "We were happy. We could support our family. These days we have nothing."
While Philippine fish exports are going up nationally, official records show the catch from Batangas province in a slide. Many residents blame the power plants.
There is overfishing, too. "We heard they will build more," Abanil said. "What will happen to us?"
But Philippine Department of Energy fossil fuels director Rino Abad defended the plans. "We just have to make our best choice which is natural gas," he said in a Zoom interview, describing it as the least expensive energy source, flexible and very clean. "We cannot increase our energy capacity by RE (renewable energy) alone."
He noted that the country is not building any new power plants that burn coal, which is dirtier.
Abad disputed the size of the expansion, saying 14 plants are planned. But that appears to include only those in the department's formal pipeline and not others that are at an earlier stage or more recently announced.
Today, the Philippines accounts for less than 4 percent of overall natural gas use in Southeast Asia, Abad said.
Indonesia and Thailand use several times more. Philippine environmental guidelines protect the coral reefs, he said, for example by limiting the temperature of hot water discharged from power plants.
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