on nuclear energy : aquino, de los reyes, madrigal & perlas no to nukes; gordon, teodoro, villanueva and villar yes to nukes

PDI has an excellent series of articles, “Talk Of The Town” where they ask all the presidentiables their stand on issues and topics. We are printing here the latest installement. 

Stand on nuke energy, power crisis
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:26:00 03/13/2010

THE COUNTRY has been hit by outages as a result of low-generating capacity of hydroelectric plants due to the dry spell, and the breakdown and maintenance of power plants. Mindanao is particularly hard hit, suffering from rolling brownouts lasting 8 to 10 hours a day.

The shortfall in the country’s power supply has brought into focus the need to come up with additional sources of electricity.

Two provinces – Pangasinan and Cebu – have expressed interest in nuclear power.

Whether the country will adopt nuclear-power technology will depend on the policy of the next President.

Talk of the Town asked the following questions to the presidential candidates to get a sense of their position on nuclear power and the energy shortfall.

Are you in favor of nuclear power to address the power shortage?

Why? Why not?

If you’re in favor, would you revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant?

Isn’t it too costly to pursue a nuclear program?

How will safety concerns be addressed? (Earthquakes, storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel)

Benigno Aquino III
Liberal Party

I would rather exhaust other means than resort to nuclear power. We have other perceivably safer sources of renewable energy.

Nuclear energy has reemerged as an option to satiate the world’s present and future electricity needs. However, it continues to face “social acceptability” problems because of fears about the safety of its use. There are other sources of energy that have less chances of endangering the lives of people.

In the case of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, it has a large amount of documented safety hazards and may pose a threat to the safety and/or well-being of the residents around it.

The challenge for both government policymakers and private-sector stakeholders lies in exploring and developing energy resources safely, economically and in an environmentally responsible manner. The pace of development must also be efficient and timely to meet forecast demand.

Neither renewables nor fossil fuels and nuclear power can bring immediate “energy self-sufficiency.” We must pursue an optimal mix of sources of energy immediately and aggressively if we hope to meet our future needs. The energy mix should be able to reduce risks associated with the supply, price volatility and production cost.

The government must also take an active role in pushing for a comprehensive competition policy. Submitted by Aquino’s staff

 

Manuel Villar
Nacionalista Party

Yes (I’m in favor of nuclear power to address the power shortage.)

At this point where there is an energy crisis, all options are open. The availability of more safe and environment-friendly nuclear technology and the experience of other nations using it should be reason enough to pursue it.

An experts’ commission (from the Department of Transportation and Communication, Department of Energy, academe and private sector) should be created to reassess the feasibility of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Primary concerns that should be addressed by them are the safety issues and the economics of reviving it and its potential to address the perennial energy crisis we are experiencing.

I have always been a cost-benefit kind of manager. The costs should be weighed against the benefits. If in the long run nuclear technology solves the crisis in power, this will bring in more investments to our economy and open up opportunities for the people.

How will safety concerns be addressed (earthquakes, storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel)?

This is the reason why there is a need for a thorough study participated in by the experts and all stakeholders, so we can look at safety concerns and to make sure that the undertaking will work for our benefit and not harm us in any way. Submitted by Villar’s staff

 

Joseph Estrada
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino

Countries like Taiwan are using nuclear power for electricity. Why can’t we do that? I’m in favor of using the nuclear power plant but we have to transfer the location (from Bataan) because it is near an earthquake fault. We should use it.

We paid for it for many years. It was only recently that it was fully paid. However, since it is near a fault line, why not relocate it?

The government should have anticipated the power crisis. With the growth of our population, there really would be a shortage in energy. There were independent power producers before but our experience only resulted in more graft and corruption. There should be no sovereign or government guarantees.

I’m in favor of alternate sources of energy such as geothermal energy. I’m in favor of anything that would help solve our power crisis. Interview by Norman Bordadora

 

Richard Gordon
Bagumbayan

I am in favor of using nuclear power. It is really, in the long run, much cheaper.

The only problem with nuclear waste is how to store it. But it is clean in the long run.

Besides, there are nuclear plants all around us. Taiwan has a nuclear plant. Japan has a nuclear plant.

What is the alternative? It now seems that we can’t do anything right. It’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t with dams. You don’t want coal.

In our country, we keep putting fear and doubt in our aspirations. It is necessary that we learn to accept that if other countries are capable, we are also capable.

The other countries trust our sailors with their lives at sea. They trust our pilots to fly airplanes. I don’t see why we cannot do this with nuclear power.

Regarding the debate about the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, I will have to consult the people there first. It seems like a disgrace that we paid for it and we never got a single volt of power from there.

If the people of Bataan will approve it, then I am not afraid of it. But if the people will be against it because they have studied the issue carefully, then that is also OK. Interview by Edson C. Tandoc Jr.

erap no-show at PDI forum – hiding from the truth?

Estrada a no-show; handlers say PDI ‘biased’

‘Biased against Erap’

Margaux Salcedo, Estrada’s spokesperson, said in a statement: “The executive committee of the campaign felt that Inquirer is always biased against Erap, that it would work more harm than good to attend, and advised President Erap not to go.”

Salcedo, who is also an Inquirer contributor, said her boss did not attend upon the advice of his campaign managers.

Former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, Estrada’s chief campaigner, complained that media outlets, like the Inquirer and ANC, highlighted only the absence of the ex-president in debates.

“Forums only upset the campaign schedule,” Maceda said on Sunday.

i don’t know how not attending this forum this will help erap’s presidential bid, but for sure this is a huge loss of opportunity for estrada.  PDI is the largest selling national broadsheet and undeniably one of the more influential press in the country.

we have seen erap in other forums and he has done alright in them. he was not able to break barriers but he has not failed in them. PDI being biased is beside the point. PDI as far as we can read is biased against stupidity, but they will write things the way they are. they have a tabloid mentality in the way they write their headlines, but they put things out there for us to read as they happen.

a presidency will always get critics. that is something erap, of all the presidentiables should know. he has been there. not wanting to deal with adversity does not speak very well of a presidency. come on, if estrada gets elected president, he will never talk to PDI, the largest circulating broadsheet in the country?

wrong move, erap.

bakit absent si eddie villanueva sa presidentiables forum sa DLSZ?

nagtatanong lang po – bakit wala si eddie villanueva sa presidential forum sa de la salle zobel? siya nga yung kulelat sa surveys kailangang kailangan niya ang exposure sa mga botante at media.

Kilalanin Forum 09 Jan 2010 presidentiables forum – “Gloves Are Off”. listen to audio recording here

listen to the audio recording, click here:  Kilalanin Forum 09 Jan 2010 – Video – GMANews.TV – Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs – Latest Philippine News.

 

Rivals taunt Aquino: What have you done in the past?
By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:11:00 01/10/2010

MANILA, Philippines–The gloves are off.

The presidential race is gathering steam, with Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar demanding to know from Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III if the latter had anything to show that he could deliver on promised reforms.

Incidentally, it was the first time Villar, a self-made billionaire with humble beginnings, showed up at a forum of presidential candidates.

The occasion was the “presidential forum” held Saturday at the De La Salle Santiago Zobel School in Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City, where Villar and Bagumbayan Party standard-bearer Richard Gordon ganged up on Aquino, their fellow senator, and his purported lack of competence and experience to lead the nation.

Aquino—who continues to be No. 1 in the surveys although his lead over Villar is narrowing—is running on a platform of hope and change.

“We should show that we aspirants can really implement change. Meron ka na bang naipakita na may kakayahan kang magbago (Have you shown that you have the ability to effect change)?” Villar said, adding:

“But you can’t easily change society. All forces will go against you. The question: ‘May nagawa ka na ba (Have you done anything)? Did [you] change something in the past? It is important to establish that when you say that you will change … you are really capable [of doing it].”

read in full here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100110-246465/Rivals-taunt-Aquino-What-have-you-done-in-the-past

GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Forum Part 2: the eddie villanueva video

rate villanueva’s  performance in this one – give a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating, below.

also post a comment.

Nicanor Perlas on Being a Political Leader for Mindanao

The Ampatuan Massacre which killed 57 people disgusted everyone of us but more than that we need justice and a real solution to the issues surrounding Mindanao.  Today is the national day of mourning for what was called the most brutal and barbaric event in modern times in our country.

I would like to share why I think a leader like Nicanor “Nick” Perlas would be a political leader for Mindanao who can finally bring peace and the needed justice that the people of Mindanao is seeking.  Here are some of the reasons supported by me as well as someone who lived in Mindanao and studied there, Nicanor “Nick” Perlas.

NICANOR PERLAS ON BEING A POLITICAL LEADER FOR MINDANAO, as expressed during Mindanao Coalition for Transparent and Accountable Governance (MCTAG)-organized Forum with the Presidentiables August 27, 2009.

One of the first most important things for a leader to be in Mindanao is a passion for social justice.  Many of the issues that are in Mindanao is a result of inequitable development, inequitable access to fruits of development, including the whole struggle for peace which is mainly a social justice issue.

The second trait is the kind of political will to move into arenas of governance that seem to be untouchable. So this means, for example, challenging the basic political structures that produce poverty, that produce conflict, that produce unsustainable development; to actually move into that system with political will and determination to challenge that system.

The third leadership trait would be, despite a passion for social justice, and maybe because of it…is also the importance to becoming truly an empowering, and consultative leader who really listens to what people are yearning for.

The problem in Mindanao is massive as it is with the rest of the country but especially here. No one person, no one leader can possibly provide all the answers.  I totally believe in…collective intelligence that emerges when a leader authentically listens to all his stakeholders to a specific issue area and then has the political will to act on what is emerging out of that issue.

And finally, I think it’s important that in this process of change and transformation, a leader can bring a broad vision, a lofty vision about our higher possibilities as a nation and as peoples here in Mindanao and at the same time have the practical experience and will to put the detailed operations to realize that vision.

I think that with these four qualities of leadership, then I think we will start seeing a very different Mindanao immediately after the first few years of a new governance, if it so happens.

Below are the transcripts of what Nicanor Perlas proposes for Mindanao which he answered during the presidential forum:

GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Forum: the nicanor perlas video

please rate perlas’  performance in this one – give a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating, below. also post a comment.

GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Forum: the manny villar video

please rate villar’s  performance in this one – give a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating, below. also post a comment.

GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Forum: the eddie villanueva video

 

please rate villanueva’s  performance in this one – give a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating, below. also post a comment.

GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Forum: the gilbert teodoro video

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GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Fprum: the bayani fernando video

 

please rate fernando’s  performance in this one – give a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating, below. also post a comment.

GMA7 Isang Tanong Presidential Forum: the JC de los Reyes video

 

please rate de los reyes’  performance in this one – give a thumbs up or a thumbs down rating, below. also post a comment.