Bishop calls for people power vs Bataan nuclear plant

MANILA, Philippines - A senior Catholic bishop called for "people power" to relive the spirit of EDSA-1 in blocking the revival of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas, who played a key role in the 1986 revolt, said people must join hands to stop a plan that poses a threat to the environment. "Let us stand up for one another as what we did during EDSA 1986," he said at a prayer rally outside St. Joseph's Cathedral in Balanga, Bataan Monday afternoon, according to an account on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Web site (www.cbcpnews.com) Monday night. Villegas was an aide and protégé of the late Manila archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, whose call for support triggered the EDSA Revolution 23 years ago. During the prayer rally, Villegas branded lawmakers supportive of the plan as "betraying" of the spirit of the popular uprising. He noted the BNPP was one of the so-called white elephants that the Filipino people thwarted when they ousted then President Ferdinand Marcos. "We were able to put a stop to the nuclear power plant because of EDSA 1986. Reviving the nuclear power plant is therefore a betrayal of the spirit of Edsa as it again attempts to trick the nation," he said. Villegas also described those pushing to reopen the nuclear plant as enemies of the poor. "They are enemies of the poor and weak. They are not our friends. They are not on the side of God. They are living for themselves only," he said. "Is the nuclear power plant more important to them than the people already suffering from poverty?" he added. The Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) also joined different groups in calling for a stop to any moves to revive the nuclear power plant, saying it would endanger the lives of the Filipino people. "It is a known fact that this project was full of anomalies and was a source of corruption during the time of President Marcos. The Filipino people were then saddled with paying for this monstrosity for close to two decades," the group said in a statement. The group then urged the government to focus on other alternatives for power generation that are safe, sustainable and indigenous instead of reviving the power plant. "We are confident that in doing so, the government will eventually stop its practice of auctioning and privatizing our energy facilities and resources to private and foreign companies, like what they are doing with BNPP and other power plants," the statement said. - GMANews.TV