Philippines' Marcos says 'perhaps time to revisit nuclear energy'
No mention of solar, I notice.
Manila (AFP) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who declared a national energy emergency this year, said Monday that nuclear power might hold answers for a country paying the highest electricity prices in the region.
Marcos made the suggestion in a wide-ranging State of the Nation speech that placed spiralling energy costs and inflation, driven by the war in the Middle East, centre-stage.
"Perhaps it is time for us to revisit nuclear energy production," Marcos told the joint session of Congress.
"We will ensure it is safe. We will ensure the good benefits of nuclear energy will be explained properly to the public."
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant -- the only nuclear power plant in the Philippines -- was completed in the 1980s but never launched due to corruption issues and safety concerns.
The Philippines has conducted exploratory talks about nuclear energy with numerous countries including Japan, France, Russia and the United States.
Marcos offered no specifics about his atomic energy plans, the Philippines announced a deal with the United States in May 2024 to train Filipinos how to build and operate nuclear power plants.
Carlo Arcilla, former director of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute, told AFP reintroducing nuclear energy into the conversation was a "no-brainer".
"While it's true that we have hydro and geothermal, these are not enough. We've experienced a lot of brownouts, especially in the Visayas," he said, referencing a region of the central Philippines that is home to more than 20 million.
"I hope the president follows this up with concrete action," Arcilla said.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said in March that the import-dependent archipelago planned to boost the output of its coal-fired power plants to keep electricity costs down as the war wreaked havoc with gas shipments.
Marcos separately unveiled a raft of measures aimed at providing relief for the country's embattled middle class, including exempting those earning up to 350,000 pesos ($5,670) from income tax entirely. The previous threshold had been 250,000 pesos.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/7/27/climate-change-presents-new-threat-to-philippines-unesco-rice-terracesOpen linkView original on piefed.social
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High electricity bills are not punk rock.
Bong Espiritu of the Philippine Violators, a long-time punk band, laments the cost of electricity even if his other house is not occupied.
"Never I complained because I'm not overacting and even until now I forgive and understand what I do, but MERALCO (the utility company mostly operating in Metro Manila) during three weeks in July, there wasn't anyone in my house in Cavite (a nearby city) all of us are in Manila, we were charged Php3,225 (US$51). The Filipino masses are suffering, you are making things worse. I don't know if I got it wrong or I guessed because they got used to toying with the surcharges, from Php3,000 to Php5,000 but it's injustice. Do your job!"
