Robredo 'open' to talks on nuclear energy; 'least of our priorities'
Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo would be open for discussions on tapping nuclear energy but it will not be among her priorities if elected.
Instead, she will prioritize the crafting of roadmap to fulfill the country's commitment to the COP26 of being carbon-neutral by 2050.
"While bukas tayo sa (we are open to) discussions on tapping nuclear energy, least of our priorities yun dahil yung priority talaga natin ngayon, papunta na tayo doon sa COP26 commitment natin na carbon-neutral na tayo by 2050 (it remains the least of our priorities now because we are moving towards our COP26 commitment to be carbon-neautral by 2050)," Robredo said Friday, March 3.
If elected, her administration will work on crafting a roadmap towards the goal as she added that she intends to explore the use of indigenous sources of power and for renewables.
The presidential aspirant explained that at present, the country has still no plan on how to retire coal plants, as well as the shift to either liquified natural gas on our way to shifting to renewables.
"So, dapat yun yung tinututukan natin. Sa akin, totoong magkakaproblema tayo sa supply ng kuryente kaya nga open tayo sa kahit anong diskusyon (So, we must focus on that. For me, it is true that we have a problem in supply so we are open to any discussions)," Robredo said.
In reviving the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, however, she said that the reason why it was not used must be revisit first.
"With regards to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, balikan natin. Balikan natin, bakit ba sa dinami-dami ng ginastos natin hindi naman natin ginamit? Kasi maraming problema (We should revisit why despite the expenses to build it, why did we not use it? Because of numerous problems)," Robredo said.
On Feb. 28, President Duterte signed an executive order that would establish a nuclear energy program for the Philippines in a bid to support the country’s growing power demands.