Balanga Bishop Ruperto C. Santos reiterated the stand of his diocese opposing the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) to help address the power shortage in the country.
“Our pastoral statement of rejecting and saying ‘no’ to the BNPP rehabilitation stands,” Santos stressed over Radio Veritas.
The Church leader said the revival of the BNPP to address the power shortage in the country and the threat to the safety and health of the public and the environment must always be considered.
Santos said that the estimated $1 billion costs to rehabilitate the BNPP based on a feasibility study done by the Korea Electric Power Corporation must instead be used to fund the safer renewable sources of energy like solar, hydropower, wind energy, and other environment-friendly sources of power that are also cost-efficient.
“I urge the government to focus on renewable energy like the windmills in Ilocos Norte. Why not promote that?” said Santos.
The mothballed BNPP was constructed during the Marcos regime in 1984 for the amount of $2.3 billion.