QUEZON CITY, Philippines — President Duterte on February 28 signed Executive Order (EO) No. 164 adopting a national position for a nuclear energy program. The move was only made public on Thursday. Greenpeace Campaigner Khevin Yu responded:

“Greenpeace is demanding the Duterte administration to revoke EO 164. We believe it is a treacherous move spurred by misguided interests that are not aligned with the interests of the Filipino people. Nuclear is the most dangerous and most expensive source of electricity and is the last thing the Filipino people need at a time when we are already deep in debt and trying to recover from a major health crisis.

“The signing of this EO and Sec Cusi’s continued peddling of the interests of the nuclear industry is a blatant disregard of the people’s call for a concrete, sustainable, and safe solution to the energy crisis through renewable energy. The Duterte administration is about to leave a tarred legacy and is setting us up for another horror story like Chernobyl and Fukushima, and that of countries that utilize nuclear power but have no solution to radioactive spent fuel waste. Current and future generations will be left to face the dangerous risks of harnessing nuclear energy, along with the impacts of the climate crisis. 

“We are calling on the next administration to ensure that their first order of business is to scrap the so-called nuclear option once and for all. The next administration will already inherit a huge debt burden and the pursuit of nuclear will make this even heavier due to steep capital costs for construction, operation of nuclear plants, enormous costs of radioactive fuel storage, and costs for managing a nuclear incident that can reach billions of dollars, as well as price volatility as almost all sources of uranium are in conflict areas. 

It’s unfortunate that this came right after the release of the latest IPCC report, which highlighted the need for nature-based solutions and strong political commitment to address the climate crisis. Instead of responding with urgency, the government is exposing us to greater risks. The next President should not let Cusi’s questionable nuclear ambitions sully their opportunity to make a transformative energy policy grounded on clean, safe, and accessible renewable energy.”

Note to editor

Cases of dangerous nuclear waste disposal and ecological threats

Media contact: 

Khevin Yu 
Energy Transition Campaigner,
Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63 998 9664807

Angeli Cantillana
Communications Campaigner,
Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines 
[email protected] | +63 998 595 9733