A former official of the Department of Energy (DOE) indicated that only P51.9 million of the P266-million budget had been spent in the preparation and crafting of nuclear energy policy framework under the Duterte administration.

According to former Energy Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza, of the P266 million budget allocated for DOE on nuclear power study, the actual amount released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) only reached more than P51 million with utilization spread from years 2017 to 2022.

"The nuclear infrastructure development program has been anchored on four cornerstones,” he said. These include the crafting of the national policy via the issuance of an Executive Order by former President Rodrigo Duterte on the country’s nuclear policy; as well as the alignment of global and international standards primarily with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as well as with the member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The other cornerstones, Erguiza noted, had been the conduct of stakeholder survey to assess the Filipino public’s stance on nuclear power development; as well as the lodgment of proposed legislation in Congress to set out the legal as well as regulatory framework for the country’s renewed plunge into nuclear power investments.

Nevertheless, the former DOE official was vague when asked if the Duterte administration had a tangible study output that was written and accessible to policymakers and the public.

He stated that there was study done by the IAEA, but there was no categorical timeframe given and if the study was funded by the Philippine government; or if it was the international nuclear organization that also bankrolled the conduct of a study, similar to what it had done for the proposed rehabilitation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) during the Arroyo administration in 2009.

Erguiza just asserted that “in all the areas, various significant milestones and outputs have been accomplished that could pave way to the eventual inclusion of nuclear energy in our energy. Of course, that will be a direction that the current administration will consider.”

He added that “if there is dearth of information on the above matters which were previously submitted by the DOE, these can be clarified and asked in the upcoming budget deliberations.”

The Senate, in particular, has been nudging the DOE on submission of the State-funded nuclear study, but current Energy Secretary Raphael P. M. Lotilla indicated that he has yet to look for such output of the past administration.

The lawmakers are also raising questions what could have been the basis of the past DOE officials in crafting a nuclear policy and in former President Duterte’s declaration of a nuclear program of the country via an Executive Order if it has not been solidly backed up with a comprehensive study and evidence-based data and findings.

To recall, Duterte issued Executive Order 164 in March this year wherein he laid down the country’s need for baseload electricity supply that could be partly anchored on nuclear, as the country would eventually see the phaseout of coal plants in its energy mix.

The EO primarily stipulated that “nuclear power shall be tapped as a viable alternative baseload power source along with alternative energy resources, to address the projected decline of coal-fired power plants which come under increasing environmental opposition.”