Malacañang seeks shift to local power sources

MANILA, Philippines — The government is pushing for the country’s reliance on indigenous power resources to cut high electricity rates in the country, according to Malacañang.

“This move aims to reduce the country’s dependence on importation of power resources over the past years, as ordered by President Marcos to the Department of Energy (DOE),” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of her office.

Angeles, who joined a press briefing with Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla on Tuesday, said that he had vowed that the government would “develop measures to reduce the Philippines’ dependence on power resources from other countries.”

Citing data from the DOE, Angeles said that 56.8 percent of the country’s energy needs were imported while 43.2 percent was from local sources.

In his first State of the Nation Address on July 25,  Marcos said the government must build new power plants and push for the use of renewable energy to lower the price of electricity in the country.

Pointing out that energy demand was in excess of reliable supply, he pushed for the construction of new power plants as well as taking advantage of “all the best technology that are now available, especially in the areas of renewable energy.”

“Our search for new power sources should always be with an eye to improving the energy supply mix between traditional and renewable sources,” he added.

Marcos also pushed for the possible revival and building of nuclear power plants in the country.

During the campaign season, he said he wanted the government to revisit the possible revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, a $2.3-billion facility built during the term of his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

The power plant, however, never became operational due to corruption allegations and safety concerns.

The president assured the public that the Philippines would comply with International Atomic Energy Agency regulations for nuclear power plants.

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