Pangasinan board approves construction of nuke plants

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan , Philippines  – Provincial board members voted 7-1-2 during their plenary session Monday afternoon to adopt a resolution on the construction of nuclear power plants from South Korea along the province’s coastline.

Sixth district board member Alfonso Bince Jr., who was designated chairman of the ad hoc committee created to study the resolution, told The STAR yesterday that they “thoroughly discussed” the draft resolution proposed by fifth district Rep. Mark Cojuangco, as he belied reports that they fast-tracked its approval.

The resolution “expressed the sense” of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan “to invite the national government to locate, under certain conditions, the KEDO nuclear plant assets or other equally modern nuclear power plants within the boundaries of the province, most specifically along the coastline areas.”

Those who voted in favor of the resolution were Bince and fellow board members Angel Baniqued, Romeo Dadacay, Danilo Uy, Tyrone Agabas, John Agerico Rosario, and Amadeo Espino.

Two abstained, namely board members Von Mark Mendoza and Alicia Pulido, while Raul Sison was the lone opposition.

Bince said the ad hoc committee met to listen to Cojuangco and asked him questions for further explanation.

He said he then prepared a committee report, which was submitted to the plenary “where we voted either to adopt or not adopt it with the corresponding resolution.”

“We had it for first reading, then the ad hoc committee was created. Discussions were made, and then we voted. So (there was) no fast-tracking,” he added.

Bince said there will still be geological studies done by the University of the Philippines and the International Atomic Energy if the coastal areas are safe as sites of nuclear power plants.

He said lower electricity rates of P3 to P4 per kilowatt-hour from P9 to P10, assurance that making Pangasinan will be blackout-free and the influx of potential investors are among the primary interests that the board members considered in approving the resolution.

Cojuangco, in a letter to the board members dated last Feb. 7, said the Philippines is finding itself at the cusp of a power crisis.

“We all remember, I hope, what happened to our country then. This time, it threatens to be much larger and worse than (what) hit us during the Cory and Ramos administrations,” Cojuangco said.

“If we, as a society, do not act and act fast, then I am sure that the repercussions to our economy, our people’s jobs, and our very hope for prosperity will be dire, if not devastating,’ he added.

Cojuangco urged the board members to do all they can to prevent this looming power crisis from happening.

He said Pangasinan, which is near the sea and has established and substantial electrical transmission infrastructure, is in an excellent and enviable position to participate in attaining a workable solution to the energy needs of the Luzon grid.

He said the Luzon grid faces a shortfall of 3,000 megawatts by the year 2012.

“The province may accomplish this good for the Filipino people while at the same time doing a good turn for the Pangasinenses,” he added.

Cojuangco, whose move in Congress for the reopening of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant did not push through, said the South Korean government has started disposing of its Korean Energy Development Organization-Nuclear Power Plant (KEDO-NPP) assets. 

These assets, he said, are identical to the KSNP type of nuclear power plants currently operating in South Korea.

He said these power plants are the backbone of Korea’s nuclear power-generating capacity, accounting for 12 of the 20 power plants currently operating in South Korea.

Cojuangco said nuclear power is recognized throughout the world as the power-generating technology with the lowest carbon footprint, thus a non-contributor to the growing problem of global warming and climate change.