Gibo bats anew for long-term sustainable energy road map to address worsening power woes

CADIZ CITY—Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gibo Teodoro on Friday pressedanew for the implementation of a renewable and sustainable energy roadmap asa long-term solution to the deepening power crisis, which has latelybuffeted even Metro Manila.

“Really in the long run, not in the short-run, we really have to implement the renewable and sustainable energy roadmap,” said Gibo on the issue of rotating power interruptions in different parts of the country, includingMetro Manila.

“ I don’t think there’s an immediate solution. If there’s an immediate solution probably it could have been done [that would have prevented the power woes we’re experiencing now],” the former defense secretary told reporters in a chance interview here at the residence of Mayor Salvador Escalante.

In implementing the long-term renewable and sustainable energy road map, Gibo said the southern portion of Negros Occidental should be a prime candidate.“The wind in Southern Negros is really very strong,” the Harvard-trained lawyer and 1989 bar topnotcher said.

Gibo said the energy problems the country is facing now could have been prevented had something been done before to increase the generating capacity.However, when you increase the generating capacity, it does not necessarily means that power rates will decrease, Gibo said.

On the other hand, power rates may increase because you need additional capital expenditures in the efforts to increase the generating capacity, headded. But even with an increased generating capacity, Gibo said that supply would also eventually fluctuate because of the growing demand, thus the need to really implement the long-term renewable and sustainable energy roadmap inthe country, Gibo said.

Earlier, the Harvard-trained lawyer and 1989 bar topnotcher said exploring options on energy sustainability could include nuclear power, but he thumbed down the possibility of reopening the moth balled Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) because of its numerous technical flaws and safety risks.

Gibo said, however, that the Philippines could learn from the example of theUnited Arab Emirates, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, which recently inked a $25-billion contract with a Korean electric power company to set up nuclear power plants.

“I don’t see the reason why we should not (explore nuclear power).Filipinos used to run the plants in Korean and Japan, I think. We cancertainly do it here,” Gibo said.

The United States, Japan and France are among the world’s largest users of nuclear power, which is generally considered as a cheaper, more reliable and cleaner alternative to fossil fuels in generating electricity.The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that as of 2007, there were 439 nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries.

Former press secretary Mike Toledo, who is now Gibo’s spokesman and director of the G1BO 2010 Media Bureau, said that the Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer’s energy sustainability plan is a telling mark that “Gibo alone among the presidentiables has a concrete and doable platform o fgovernment that has been recognized and appreciated by an increasing numberof voters.”

“Gibo’s campaign is now peaking because more and more Filipinos, most especially students and other young voters, have come to realize that he is indeed the most qualified to lead our country into the next decade on the strength of his concrete program, sterling record and brilliant performance in presidential debates and other public engagements.” -30-