Tinio: Pax Silica must not be a Trojan horse for dangerous small modular reactors (SMR) in the Philippines

ACT Teachers Representative and Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio today warned that the Marcos administration and advocates of the Pax Silica project must not use the initiative’s massive energy demands as a pretext to push for the installation of untested and dangerous small modular nuclear power plants in the country.

This statement comes amid reports that the administration is considering all options, including small modular reactors (SMR), to meet the staggering 5-gigawatt power requirement of the planned Pax Silica Economic Security Zone in Clark. This consideration follows the recent signing of the US-Philippines “123 Agreement” on civil nuclear cooperation.

“We see a dangerous convergence here. First, the government commits to a US-led project that will consume a huge chunk of our national power supply for the benefit of foreign corporations. Then, it uses the resulting artificial energy crisis to justify importing risky, experimental nuclear technology from the same foreign power,” Rep. Tinio said.

“Small modular reactors (SMRs) remain largely unproven at commercial scale and could be far more expensive than promised. They still pose risks involving radioactive waste, accidents, security, and nuclear proliferation—while their smaller size does not eliminate these fundamental dangers,” Tinio said

“Pax Silica is a problem of its own making—a voracious, unnecessary project that will hog electricity needed by our people and industries. It cannot now be used as an excuse to bring in microreactors and other nuclear technologies that turn our communities into testing grounds and radioactive hazards,” he added.

The solon pointed out that the Philippines already suffers from the most expensive electricity in Southeast Asia due to the privatization and deregulation of the power sector under the EPIRA law. Diverting 5 gigawatts to an American-controlled enclave will worsen shortages and spike prices for ordinary Filipinos.

“The solution is not to compound one disastrous policy with another. The solution is to scrap Pax Silica, which is a brazen resource grab, and to prioritize genuine national development and energy security for the Filipino people,” Tinio stated.

He emphasized that the push for modular nuclear power, facilitated by the 123 Agreement, is driven by US corporate and strategic interests, not by the needs of the Philippines.

“The Marcos administration is creating a crisis through Pax Silica and then offering a US-made modular nuclear ‘solution’ that will make us permanently dependent on American technology, fuel, and capital. This is not energy independence; this is deepening neocolonial control over our energy sector,” Tinio argued.

The lawmaker called on the public to vigorously oppose both the Pax Silica project and the introduction of modular nuclear power, labeling them as twin threats to national sovereignty, public safety, and the environment.

“We must not allow Pax Silica to be the excuse that opens the floodgates to modular nuclear power. The Filipino people will bear the cost—higher electricity rates, the risk of catastrophic accidents, and the permanent loss of control over our energy future. We demand the termination of the Pax Silica deal and the rejection of the modular nuclear energy path,” Rep. Tinio concluded.