Senator Robinhood "Robin" Padilla said Thursday, July 28 that now is the time to start efforts to harness nuclear and renewable energy to address the perennial problem of power shortages.

Padilla said it would take a lot of time and finances to plan the location and operation of power plants, especially those that use nuclear power.

"Kasi ang preparation pa lang niyan, ang tagal na. Di naman po yan paguusapan natin ngayon bukas magtatayo tayo ng nuclear power plantv (The preparation phase for such facilities will take time. We cannot just say we will build a nuclear plant tomorrow)," he said in an interview with Senate reporters.

Ang habang study niyan, kailangan niyan alamin pa natin kung saan ilalagay para di matamaan ng fault kasi kung mamaya pabigla bigla tayo kung san ilalagay yan yun pala sa ilalim noon may fault (It entails a lengthy study, including the location of the facility to make sure it does not sit on top of a fault)," he noted.

Earlier, Senator Loren Legarda, an environmentalist, said she has issues against nuclear power plants, citing proper waste disposal, among others.

"Pero kailangan na natin ngayon dahil ang issue ngayon mataas ang kuryente, kulang ang pagdala ng kuryente sa tao (More importantly, we need to start now because electricity rates are so high). Ang solusyon lang po talaga diyan nuclear power plant (The only solution is to harness nuclear power)," he added.

Padilla noted that had the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) which was built in the 1970s been fired up and not become a "casualty" of politics, the country would likely not be dealing with problems involving electricity.

On the other hand, Padilla said building such facilities would require foreign investment - thus the need to revisit the 1987 Constitution to ensure the entry of more foreign investments.

"Kailangan natin talaga baguhin (We really need to amend some provisions in the Constitution)," he said.