Pro-science group Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM) called for a greater push for nuclear power in the country in light of last week’s Red Alerts in Luzon.
AGHAM President and former partylist Rep. Angelo Palmones went on to blame energy officials for lack of foresight and action on nuclear power-based generation, which could have helped avoid the rotational brownouts.
Palmones, also a broadcaster, specifically lamented that neither the Department of Energy (DOE) nor the Energy Regulatory Commission has invested a single centavo for the social acceptance of nuclear power plants, while taking a swipe by asking who the cabinet’s richest member was.
While Palmones did not name the cabinet member, it is a fact that Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi is the richest one, based on his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth for 2019.
The former congressman also lashed at the government’s prioritization of “expensive” renewable energy plants, pointing out that it may be soothing to the ears, but very agonizing to consumers’ budgets.
Even with Palmones’s statements, Cusi has expressed on several occasions the government’s plan to include nuclear power in the country’s energy mix. The country’s nuclear energy policy has been up for Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s signature since January.
