Pax Silica project ‘voracious,’ may affect energy security – Tinio

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed Pax Silica project in New Clark City, Tarlac could consume the Philippines’ entire energy supply, according to Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, who on Saturday branded it a “voracious” and “unnecessary” project.

He added that the US-led initiative could serve as a pretext for importing and building a modular nuclear power plant to provide its projected 5-GW electricity demand.

The International Energy Agency previously noted that the 1,619-hectare data center could consume as much electricity as 100,000 households.

READ: Pax Silica could bring 200,000 jobs to PH

“First, the government commits to a US-led project that will consume a huge chunk of our national power supply for the benefit of foreign corporations. Then, it uses the resulting artificial energy crisis to justify importing risky, experimental nuclear technology from the same foreign power,” Tinio stated in a statement.

He added that the administration’s push for modular nuclear power under the US-Philippines 123 Agreement–a nuclear cooperation agreement, which enables American companies to export nuclear fuel reactors and technologies to the country–is motivated by the US corporate’s interests, “not by the needs of the Philippines.”

“The Marcos administration is creating a crisis through Pax Silica and then offering a US-made modular nuclear ‘solution’ that will make us permanently dependent on American technology, fuel, and capital. This is not energy independence; this is deepening neocolonial control over our energy sector,” he argued.

Tinio also pointed out that consumers are already struggling from the spike of electric costs due to Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, which privatized the power sector, thus, directing 5GW “to an American-controlled enclave” could only lead to worsening power shortages and trigger another power rate increase.

“The solution is not to compound one disastrous policy with another. The solution is to scrap Pax Silica, which is a brazen resource grab, and to prioritize genuine national development and energy security for the Filipino people,” Tinio stated.

He encouraged Filipinos to oppose Pax Silica and plans of a modular nuclear power in the country, describing the projects as a “twin threats” to the country’s sovereignty, environment, as well as the public’s safety.

“We must not allow Pax Silica to be the excuse that opens the floodgates to modular nuclear power. The Filipino people will bear the cost—higher electricity rates, the risk of catastrophic accidents, and the permanent loss of control over our energy future. We demand the termination of the Pax Silica deal and the rejection of the modular nuclear energy path,” he said.

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