Senator Loren Legarda remains on the fence about nuclear power despite the advantages cited by her colleague, Senator Francis Tolentino.
Tolentino questioned Legarda at the Senate plenary on Tuesday, July 26 – the Senate’s first lengthy plenary session in the 19th Congress. He tried to reason using Legarda’s preference for clean and green energy sources, but she would not give in.
“Ano pa kaya po ang mas lilinis dito? Wala nang usok na nanggagaling sa diesel, wala nang usok na nanggagaling sa gasolina, naka-save pa tayo ng ating kapaligiran sa carbon dioxide emission,” Tolentino said, echoing President Bongbong Marcos’ push for nuclear energy in his State of the Nation Address.
“Emissions maybe clean, maybe zero, paano naman po ang nuclear waste? Gusto ko pong maintindihan po iyon,” Legarda responded.
“This is something we need to discuss in consultations,” she also said. “I would also like to know, not just the emissions, but also the nuclear wastes and how it will be handled, at the same time, the safety measures.”
“I know that as a nation, we have had issues with standards of safety in various sectors in our country. So, that is something that bothers me,” Legarda added.
