The Philippine government’s potential deal with a US-based nuclear power firm would definitely help address its power crisis as the drought season continues to hound the country because of the El-Niño phenomenon, Senator Francis Tolentino said on Wednesday, May 3. Tolentino issued the statement following Malacañang’s pronouncement that the Oregon-based NuScale Power Corp. is planning to conduct a study to pinpoint a site in the country. “Palagay ko 'yong ganong makabagong planta na nagpo-provide ng nuclear energy na safe, modern, e malaking maitutulong, di ba? (I think a new nuclear power plant would provide a safe, modern… It will be a big help, right?),’’ he said. “Hindi ito kasing laki nung Bataan e (It will not be as big as the Bataan nuclear power plant). May maliliit (There are small plants) Safe. Bago. Ito yung latest… and easily installable ang sabi (It is said that this is new, this is the latest and easily installable),” he added. Tolentino emphasized that nuclear energy should always be an option, explaining that it is the “cleanest form of energy, thus far.” According to Tolentino, it is only right for the national government to explore new ways in addressing the current energy shortage, with nuclear energy as one of the priorities through modern nuclear micro-reactors, rather than just relying on the current state of electric distribution—as the province of Mindoro Occidental and the entire Panay Island are currently experiencing daily power outages. He also cited the recent power outage in Mindoro Occidental which had only four hours of power supply. This was solved last week. The problem of power outages has shifted to Panay. “Tapos noong sa Bacolod, biglaang ganon din ang nangyari (Then it shifted to Bacolod) Nandoon ako e, nakita ko yon, naramdaman ko 'yong sa Bacolod ilang oras iyon (I was there, I saw it, I felt it. It lasted for a few hours). Kung kailan gabi, mainit, brownout (When it is night, it is hot, there is a brownout),” he said.