Antique alliance opposes proposed nuclear power plant

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

A multi-sectoral environmental alliance in Antique on Monday, Oct. 6, voiced its opposition to the potential development of a nuclear power plant in the province, warning of further environmental destruction from existing risks.

In its statement on Monday, the Amlig Antique Alliance called the proposed nuclear plant a “disaster waiting to happen” in Antique.

They called on the Department of Energy and the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to “immediately strike Antique from any list of potential nuclear power plant sites,” and urged the provincial and municipal governments in Antique to adopt resolutions rejecting any and all nuclear development.

“This reckless proposal adds another layer of injustice to a province already reeling from environmental destruction and corporate greed. From mountains bulldozed for roads to coastlines ravaged by ill-planned projects, Antique has been reduced to an ecological sacrifice zone in the name of ‘development.’ Now, the same system that enabled these abuses dares to expose our province to the catastrophic and long-lasting dangers of nuclear energy,” the alliance said in its statement.

They cited the presence of three geological hazards near the province — the Negros Trench, the West Panay Fault, and the Palawan–Central Philippine Collision Zone.

They also noted previous events, including the 8.2-magnitude Lady Caycay earthquake near Anini-y town in 1948, the 7.1-magnitude Culasi earthquake in 1990, and the 4.3-magnitude quake centered in Bogo City, Cebu, which was also felt in the province.

The alliance said that Semirara Island, which was identified in 2019 as a potential site of a nuclear plant, sits within the Palawan–Central Philippine Collision Zone, which was involved in the 1990 quake.

“To propose a nuclear power plant here brazenly violates the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Safety Guide (SSG-9), which mandates a minimum 5-kilometer buffer from any capable fault. Compounding this peril, Semirara sits near the Negros Trench, a subduction zone primed to spawn magnitude 7.8+ tremors and tsunamis that could inundate the low-lying island,” they said.

“To ignore these intertwined seismic threats is not mere negligence — it is the reckless endangerment of lives, ecosystems, and future generations,” they added.

Aside from geological hazards, the alliance also zeroed in on the risks of nuclear power, including harm from radioactive waste and the threat posed by large water use to a “fragile marine ecosystem” already degraded by coal mining in Semirara and ill-conceived coastal projects.

“Heated wastewater and potential leaks of radioactive isotopes could devastate the Sulu Sea’s coral reefs and fisheries — the lifeblood of our local economy. To impose such a facility on a small, resource-dependent province like Antique is an act of environmental injustice and a violation of our people’s right to a healthy and safe environment,” they said.

Daily Guardian also attempted to reach Antique provincial board member Karmila Rose Dimamay, chairperson of the board’s Committee on the Environment, but she had yet to respond as of this writing.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) recently stated that it had cleared Antique and several other areas in the country as possible sites for future nuclear energy projects.

This comes after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in September signed into law the Philippine National Nuclear Energy Safety Act, which created the Philippine Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (PhilATOM), a new government body tasked with overseeing nuclear- and radiation-related activities in the country.

But Energy Secretary Sharon Garin assured the public that nuclear power plants will not be built if they are opposed by the immediate community in the proposed areas.