MANILA, Philippines – Sinabi ni Deputy Minority Leader at ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio nitong Sabado, Agosto 1 na ang panukalang Pax Silica project sa New Clark City sa Tarlac ay “voracious” at “unnecessary project” na maaaring umubos sa suplay ng kuryente ng bansa.
Ayon kay Tinio, ang United States-led project ay maaaring palusot lamang para mag-import at magtayo ng modular nuclear power plant para matugunan ang projected power demand na 5-gigawatts (GW).
Nauna nang sinabi ng International Energy Agency na ang 1,619-hectare data center ay maaaring gumamit ng kuryente na katumbas ng gamit ng 100,000 tirahan.
“First, the government commits to a US-led project that will consume a huge chunk of our national power supply for the benefit of foreign corporations. Then, it uses the resulting artificial energy crisis to justify importing risky, experimental nuclear technology from the same foreign power,” saad sa pahayag ni Tinio.
Idinagdag pa niya na ang pagsusulong ng administrasyon para sa modular nuclear power sa ilalim ng US-Philippines 123 Agreement, isang nuclear cooperation agreement, ay magbibigay-daan sa American companies na mag-export ng nuclear fuel reactors at teknolohiya sa bansa, na motivated umano ng i interest ng mga kompanya ng US, “not by the needs of the Philippines”
“The Marcos administration is creating a crisis through Pax Silica and then offering a US-made modular nuclear ‘solution’ that will make us permanently dependent on American technology, fuel, and capital. This is not energy independence; this is deepening neocolonial control over our energy sector,” giit pa niya.
Ipinunto ni Tinio na ang mga consumer ay nagtitiis na sa pagtaas ng singil sa kuryente dahil sa Republic Act No. 9136, o Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, na nagsapribado sa power sector, at ang 5GW “to an American-controlled enclave” ay magdudulot lamang ng paglala sa power shortages at magdudulot na naman ng panibagong power rate increase.
“The solution is not to compound one disastrous policy with another. The solution is to scrap Pax Silica, which is a brazen resource grab, and to prioritize genuine national development and energy security for the Filipino people,” sinabi ni Tinio.
Dahil dito ay hinimok niya ang mga Filipino na tutulan ang Pax Silica at ang plano para sa modular nuclear power sa bansa at inilarawan ang mga proyekto bilang “twin threats” sa soberanya, kalikasan, at kaligtasan ng bansa.
“We must not allow Pax Silica to be the excuse that opens the floodgates to modular nuclear power. The Filipino people will bear the cost—higher electricity rates, the risk of catastrophic accidents, and the permanent loss of control over our energy future. We demand the termination of the Pax Silica deal and the rejection of the modular nuclear energy path.” RNT/JGC
