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'Let’s be the leader in renewable energy': Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri asks officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) to make the agenda for renewable energy a priority. At the plenary deliberations on the proposed 2023 budget of DOE Thursday, November 10, 2022, Zubiri related his realization about nuclear energy from his official visit to France, where one power plant could cost the Philippines an entire national budget for one year. He said experts are also concerned about the country being in the Ring of Fire where earthquake is a regular occurrence. “It’s not that we are closing the doors and ideas on nuclear energy but I think at this point in time, we need to act on the expensive rates of power. We have all the resources for renewable energy,” Zubiri said. He also made a pitch for unrestrictive open-access market to attract investors in renewable energy. “Let’s be the leader in renewable energy, particularly since being in the Ring of Fire, we have the advantage of volcanoes which is geothermal; the advantage of wind; we have advantage from heat of the solar panels, and a lot of water from the rain for hydro-electric projects,” Zubiri added. (Albert Calvelo/ Senate PRIB)