Philippines: Time to revisit nuclear energy for us

I was spring cleaning when I came across Marcos’ handwritten notes on receivables from Westinghouse. It was under a column marked foreign investments. Marcos was accused of making $80M in kickbacks on the plant. With Iran’s current struggle to be nuclear empowered, it is tempting to compare Manila and Tehran and how differently their governments approached the problem. Of course, Tehran is a big oil rich country in a troubled region and has the muscle and determination to fight those who do not want it nuclear empowered.

Not so with the Philippines. It may not have the clout but it was first in the nuclear scene before Iran. It may be worthwhile to review how we botched our chance for nuclear energy. We could have succeeded and would have been miles ahead if we had a different public and more daring leaders. The credit for the idea of a nuclear power plant goes to Marcos during the oil crisis of 1973. But the idea went to nothing. Instead it became the most flagrant example of corrupt lending (note that: not borrowing).
ABS-CBN