A survey by PUBLiCUS Asia found that a "majority" of Filipinos supported the construction of nuclear power plants in the country.
In the second quarter 2022 PAHAYAG nationwide survey of 1,500 respondents conducted between June 16 and 22, 59 percent said they "favor" or "strongly favor" allowing nuclear power plants to be built in the Philippines. Meanwhile, 22 percent said they "disapprove" or "strongly disapprove" of building nuclear plants.
"This is the third highest total disapproval rate of all 14 questions in the survey, behind 'allowing more coal plants to be built in the Philippines '(26%) and' certifying bloggers/video writers in Malacanang '(24%)," PUBLiCUS said in a statement Friday, July 1.
Aureli Sinsuat, executive director of PUBLiCUS, said: "Our survey numbers suggest that proposals to add nuclear power to the Philippines' energy mix may have considerable support among the public. At the same time, nuclear's relatively high disapproval rating suggests it could become a polarizing issue in future policy discussions.
Meanwhile, 47 percent said they approved or strongly approved of building more coal plants in the Philippines.
"It is noteworthy that our respondents seem to view nuclear power as a more attractive sustainable energy source than coal," Sinsuat said. That could provide an opportunity for advocates to lobby more aggressively for nuclear power to be added to the energy mix. There are reasons to expect significant policy continuity on nuclear energy between Mr Duterte and the Marcos junior administration. In February, President Duterte issued Executive Order 164, adopting the national position of introducing nuclear power into the country's energy mix. During his election campaign, president Marcos praised Executive Order 164 and made it clear that he would pursue the country's nuclear policy. So we can expect a lot of continuity in pro-nuclear policies between Duterte and the current Marcos administration."