MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said that the Philippines’ push for clean energy would be at the top of his agenda during his participation in the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in California.
Marcos said this as he confirmed his attendance at the annual meet that will be held in San Francisco, California, from Nov. 12 to 18, 2023.
In his speech during the US-ASEAN Business Council in Malacañang, the President said he was keen on increasing the number of clean energy sources the Philippines could turn to.
“With energy security high in the economic agenda, we are particularly interested in sustainable land, water, and ocean solutions that align with our climate goals and support our plans to transform the Philippines into an upper middle-income country by the year 2025,” he said.
“All efforts to increase the number of power sources lean towards clean energy. That being the case, I am interested in the potential of nuclear energy, especially in light of new technologies and innovations that allow the use of smaller scale, modular, nuclear reactors, and other advanced [reactors] technologies that we see as being safer and more efficient than the more traditional designs of nuclear power production,” he added.
Marcos said there were ongoing discussions with the United States on the 123 Agreement, which will provide the legal framework for civil and nuclear-related investments, particularly nuclear power in the Philippines.
Together with the United States and other partners, especially the private sector, the President vowed to build the necessary infrastructure to help power a growing economy as the Philippines transitions to clean and renewable energy.
“We all have great hopes that the transition to renewables will be easy or simple. It turns out that is not going to be the case, and we have to be realistic in this regard,” Marcos said.
“We must be able to provide sufficient power for the development of our industry, sufficient power so that we can expand the economy, and it must be accompanied by a continuing effort to move our power sources from the traditional fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy,” he added.
Meanwhile, President Marcos said that the Philippines is actively participating in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity and the APEC meetings leading up to the Leaders’ Summit in November. (MB)
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