NEEDS CONTEXT

Additional context is needed on social media posts claiming that the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) was closed after the 1986 People Power Revolution.

While it is true that the project was mothballed during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino, the reason for the shutdown was not politics as implied in various posts that have repeatedly circulated online.

“The Government of the Philippines has decided not to operate the Philippine Nuclear Power Plant I… located in Bataan for reasons of safety and economy,” read Aquino’s Executive Order No. 55 issued on Oct. 1, 1986.

Aquino, who took over the government following the fall of the dictatorship, issued the order following the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union (now part of Ukraine) in April that year.

Read the full story on Fact-Check Patrol.

Fact-Check Patrol is a nationwide network of journalism and communication students and educators fighting disinformation and misinformation. It was initiated by the UP Fact-Checking Lab, an extension project of the UP Department of Journalism.