The Philippines has a long and tenuous relationship with nuclear energy. In the 1970s, during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the country embarked on the construction of Southeast Asia's only completed nuclear power plant, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. However, power plant was never operated, following the ouster of the dictator and the democratization of the Philippines in 1986. Succeeding administrations through the decades have grappled with the idea of introducing nuclear energy in the country but the plan made headway during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, the country's erstwhile populist president from 2016-2022. This paper looks at the discourses surrounding the revival of nuclear energy discussion in the Philippines during his administration as well as the discursive strategies deployed by actors who supported and opposed the policy. Based on key informant interviews and documentary analysis of news reports and policy documents, this paper aims to contribute to broader discussions on the intersection between populism and environmental policy by looking at how the nuclear energy issue was constructed as economic relief as well as contributing to environmental objectives. The paper also looks at how discursive strategies and broader contextual conditions shape how discourses can shape environmental policy.
