SEN. Loren Legarda vowed to block on ‘every step of the way’ the government’s plan to put up a nuclear plant in her home province, Antique.
Legarda also cautioned government agencies not to seek budget allocation for any study involving nuclear energy with Antique as a possible site. ‘It will not ply. Don’t waste money on any study on that,’ she said.
Legarda made her intentions known during the Senate Finance committee hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday.
Antique has been recommended as a nuclear energy site, Legarda said as she expressed surprise that her home province was among the fewer than 10 areas recommended as a possible nuclear plant site.
‘Just put it on record, I am not in favor of that, and I think the provincial government will not be in favor, and my fellow kasimanwa will not be in favor,’ Legarda said.
Directing her questions to Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla III, Legarda asked what the basis was for identifying Antique as a possible nuclear energy site.
‘Why is it [Antique] identified among several areas or districts, or provinces cited for a nuclear site? Binabaha tayo, may bundok tayo, may katutubo tayo,’ Legarda told Lotilla, who was a former Secretary of Energy (DOE).
Lotilla, who is also from Antique, said the identification of possible nuclear energy sites in the Philippines was made by an interagency body, but said that, as DOE, he is not privy to the science behind the selection process.
‘There’s an interagency on the nuclear program chaired by the DOE that has been conducting studies, and Antique was identified as a possible site. In addition, the interagency is looking for other sites,’ says Lotilla.
He said that from the DENR standpoint, he will depend on the government’s direction through Congress.
Nevertheless, he said, should Congress decide to move ahead to implement the nuclear program, he vowed to enhance the capacity of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in line with its regulatory function that includes the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
But Legarda reiterated her opposition to the plan. ‘May I know which government agency studied it? Antique was among the less than 10 areas where a nuclear power plant would possibly be constructed. I am not in favor, and I am not alone. I will block it every step of the way. Whichever agency, I will stop it,’ she said.
Lotilla promised to look into Legarda’s query and vowed to find out more from the interagency committee and provide more information to the lawmaker.
He said even as DOE Secretary then, he was not aware of the details because what the interagency body had was a mere survey of what the suitable site.
He added that he has no access to the specific studies that came up with Antique as a possible nuclear energy site.
‘In the past, there was a study on the northern part of Antique, but it did not push through. Even before the declaration of a Protected Area, there, at that time, there was consideration of fault line and so on,’ he shared.