Ginebra appeals water pollution case

MANILA, Philippines — Ginebra San Miguel Inc., the listed beverage company of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said it would appeal the P1 million fine imposed against it by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

In a disclosure yesterday, GSMI said the DENR had slapped its subsidiary East Pacific Star Bottlers Philippines Inc. a P1 million penalty for supposedly violating Republic Act 9275 or the Clean Water Act of 2004.

The DENR-Pollution Adjudication Board  ruled that East Pacific allegedly discharged effluents which do not meet the DENR effluent standards.

In response, East Pacific said it has already corrected such finding.

It said it would file a motion for reconsideration of the DENR-PAB order on or before Oct. 23.

GSMI is majority owned by SMC and is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages until it disposed its non-alcoholic beverage assets in favor of San Miguel Brewery Inc. in April 2015.

According to its profile, it operates three liquor bottling facilities that are located in Cebu, Pangasinan and Laguna. The company also has toll manufacturing agreements with third parties for the production of both its alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Its flagship product is Ginebra San Miguel. Other products include GSM Blue, Gran Matador Brandy, Primera Light Brandy, Antonov Vodka, and Vino Kulafu among others.

In 2017, the company released two new variants of GSM - Margarita and Gin Pomelo along with its newest product, Anejo Gold Medium Rum.

Aside from East Pacific Bottlers, another subsidiary of GSM is Distileria Bago Inc., an entity with a distillery located in Negros Occidental that converts sugar cane molasses into alcohol.