LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN?FIRST, PANGASINAN played host to a coal-fired power plant in Sual town. Then, it accommodated Asia?s largest hydroelectric dam in San Manuel town.

Now, this province of 2.64 million people (as of 2007) is opening its coastal areas for two nuclear power plants.

The possibility loomed large after the provincial board voted 7-1 with two abstentions late Monday to approve a resolution inviting South Korean investors to build nuclear power plants in Pangasinan.

Only Board Member Raul Sison, president of the local chapter of the Philippine Councilors League, voted against the resolution. Board Members Von Mark Mendoza and Alice Pulido abstained.

No fear, nuke?s here

But Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr., chair of a provincial board ad hoc committee, said there was nothing to worry about.

?What we approved was basically an expression of our sense of willingness to host [the nuclear power plants], subject, however, to certain conditions,? said Bince.

These conditions are acceptability by the people and an expert-prepared feasibility study, he said.

?We?re not even sure that we?ll be the host (of the nuclear plants),? he said.

He said, however, that the board approved the resolution swiftly because of its ?urgency? since South Korea gave the Philippine government a week to submit a letter of intent on building a nuclear plant.

Bince said the government was not ready ?unless there are provinces that are willing to undertake the construction of these nuclear plants.?

The board acted on a request of Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco for the province to invite South Korea to build a nuclear plant in Pangasinan.

Cojuangco said by hosting the nuclear plants, Pangasinan will be assured of cheaper electricity to attract more investors.

Bince said it was ?very, very clear? that the location of the nuclear plants would be identified only after a geological study by national and international agencies on nuclear power.

?It?s also clear that the nuclear power plants shall be made operational, if at all, not less than five years from the time there is a go-signal from scientists and geologists that undertook the study,? Bince said.

Swift decision

In voting against the resolution, Sison said it was ?hurriedly? passed.

?We should have been given enough time to study it. Because for me, when I hear the word ?nuclear power plant? I imagine it to be like an atomic bomb that will destroy all living things around us,? Sison said.

On Monday, the board went into recess and convened the ad hoc committee to hear Cojuangco, who appeared at the session hall to discuss his proposal.

Sison said right after the committee hearing, the board resumed session and the ad hoc committee report was presented for approval.

?But I respect the right of the majority,? Sison said.