By Leonardo Micua

 

THERE is this news report that an opinion survey is being conducted at the instance of the local government in Labrador, a town northwest of Lingayen, seeking the opinion of the townspeople on whether or not they approve the construction of not just one but six nuclear power plants in their town.

A report of IFM Radio Dagupan said the opinion survey is being conducted to gauge the sentiment of the people of Labrador, whether or not they want  six nuclear power plants to rise in their town. It’s an issue that we think should be asked not only the people of Labrador but the people of Pangasinan and the whole Philippines, whose lives would be at risk if plants foul up.

The report quoted Labrador Mayor Ernesto Acain as personally endorsing the move and we understand his position because he might be salivating at the promised economic miracle in his town if it hosts six  nuclear power plants, just like what happened decades earlier to Labrador’s neighbor Sual when it became the location of the 1,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

But the two chambers of Congress have yet to make that decision – whether the country will go nuclear and when. And if it finally does, it will not be politicians who will determine the location of nuclear power plants but experts from the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission with the help of other concerned government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and others.

Not even Chinese or Korean nuclear engineers, who were invited to Labrador in the past, can help decide on this very important issue vital to the welfare of Filipinos.

The conduct of an opinion survey by the Labrador LGU could be a deliberate, insidious effort to ram down the throats of the people of Sual (and Pangasinan )- to accept nuclear power plants today even if the debate on the issue has not begun.

Look, in the September 22, 2022 issue of the Manila Bulletin online, a news item says that House Committee on Nuclear Energy Chairman Pangasinan 2nd District Rep. Mark Cojuangco urged the Marcos  administration to consider entering a bilateral agreement with the United States in order to help the local nuclear program get off the ground, repeat “get off the ground”.

So far, Rep. Cojuangco has filed two bills along the line of nuclear energy. The first was a a proposed “Act Providing for a Comprehensive Nuclear Regulatory Framework Creating for the Purpose the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority, and Appropriating Funds therefor,” which he filed on November 10, 2022 .

Then he proposed Act establishing the Philippine Regulatory Authority and Providing  for a Comprehensive Legal Framework for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy which he filed on February 2, 2023.

These are proofs that the move to build six nuclear power plants in Labrador is not a done deal and is still product of a wild imagination. So why an opinion survey of Labrador to determine the pulse of the people if they want their town to host these six nuclear power plants?

The survey is premature. It’s merely a waste of energy and money, if the LGU is spending for the survey since there is still no decision whether the country will revive the mothballed nuclear power plant in Morong, Bataan, built by Westinghouse at the cost of billions of dollars in foreign loans during the martial law years of then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Well, imagine the enormous costs of building six nuclear power plants today.

Does Acain think that a mere survey is enough to allow six nuclear power plants to operate in his town without the projects passing through different regulatory agencies to ensure that these nuclear power plants conform to the safety standards required?

And who will bankroll these six nuclear plants? Does the Philippines have that kind of  money to finance just even one nuclear plant?

We heard that residents of Labrador were unduly alarmed by the consultation being made by their local officials who are obviously sold to the idea of welcoming nuclear plants in their town.

Corollary to this, Gov. Ramon Guico III cannot pretend not to know that residents of Labrador are being “consulted” by their LGU making their town the host of six nuclear plants.

It’s his deafening silence on the matter that’s making proponents of the projects bull strong while the majority of the people are resisting it.

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