PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte once again lashed out at the Western powers, singling out the European Union (EU) for what he calls the "hypocrisy" on the part of the highly industrialized countries in trying to regulate the use of non-renewable energy sources of developing nations like the Philippines.
Duterte said while the EU is hell bent on imposing the lowering of the carbon emissions, they also forget that they were the first to maximize the use of fossil fuels and the first to pollute the planet.
The President said the EU is playing double standards when it wanted to control the carbon footprint, which they themselves created the problem in the first place.
Duterte added the EU wanted the third-world nations to lower the emission of carbon in such a way that these countries could not move forward with their development agenda due to the energy protocols being set by the international environment-regulating bodies.
“Kataw-anan ning mga puti (these Caucasians are funny),” Duterte said, referring to the EU and the United States.
The use of coal in producing energy is the most viable option for the country at present, Duterte said.
“If we want to industrialize our country, because we are left behind by so many generations, we have to keep up with developments. [And the main option] right now is coal because it’s cheap, it’s available, although it may have impact on the planet,” Duterte said during the inauguration of the FDC Misamis Power Corp. 405-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, Thursday afternoon, September 22.
The FDC Misamis facility is seen to augment the energy needs of Mindanao which industry players consider as very timely considering the power deficiency being experienced in the island in the past few months.
Duterte said the operation of the FDC Misamis power plant will somehow help stabilize the Mindanao grid, especially in the Zamboanga peninsula where residents and businesses had suffered from 12-hour blackouts.