The Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Balanga in Bataan vowed to oppose efforts to revive the nuclear power plant in the province.
Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga renewed his diocese’s opposition after president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he may open the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
“Our pastoral statement of ‘No to BNPP’ rehabilitation stands,” Santos told Catholic-run Radio Veritas 846 on Thursday, June 2.
Marcos said reviving the dormant BNPP in Morong town would help solve the country’s energy crisis and growing power demand.
The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute earlier said that South Korea has offered to rehabilitate the BNPP at a cost of US$1 billion.
But the bishop said the hefty amount is better used for developing clean renewable, affordable and safe energy solutions.
“They should focus on renewable energy, like windmills in Ilocos Norte. So, why not promote that?” said Bishop Santos.
Completed in 1984, the plant was mothballed two years later following the ouster of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
