Bataan

This is a long overdue post from a Bataan trip me and my relatives went to two weeks ago.

My relatives from Canada are here in Manila for a month so we wanted to bring them somewhere, and thus, we decided on Bataan.

I’ve been to Bataan a few months ago with a few officemates where we stayed in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. It was a nice surprise for me because I didn’t have any idea at all that a resort like this even exists in the Philippines, let alone in Bataan, which is just a few hours from Manila via NLEX/SCTEX. I told my aunt I would bring them there, and so we did go.

After a few more research, I found out that there are a couple more places to actually visit once in Bataan. So I decided that we go on an overnight trip, stay at Las Casas, then make side trips to Mt. Samat and Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. I’ll share a few bits and pieces of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and Mt. Samat.

We left Manila around 9 AM and then asked my aunt to drive my car instead as I was sleepy from having woken up 2 AM to catch up on some work before I go on my overnight trip.

Going to Bataan is simple. Go via NLEX, SCTEX towards Subic and take the Dinalupihan exit. This is roughly a 2 hour ride (I think).

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, as we all Filipinos know is an unused nuclear power plant built during the Marcos regime way back the 1970s-1980s. A few years back, there were talks of reviving this plant, but it looks like it never materialized as it’s still currently sitting in Bataan like a white elephant.

But surprisingly, they finally found a way to make this nuclear power plant into something fruitful and productive – they now offer a tour inside the plant itself!

In fact, when we got there, I was surprised that the tour was very educational and well organized. There was an introduction provided by Cora (lady in orange in the picture) with PowerPoint slides, and even showing us an example of what an “uranium pellet/fuel” would look like. It was very small, just like the size of a bullet, or maybe smaller, which would’ve potentially powered up thousands and thousands of households.

Did you know that the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant has a twin, and that is located in South Korea? They were built at the exact same time, but South Korea’s construction finished earlier than that of the Philippines because Marcos halted the construction of the plant for two years after the Three Mile Island disaster in USA. Marcos wanted to ensure that the errors encountered in Three Mile Island disaster will not happen in our nuclear plant as well. In fact, the BNPP actually had more safety features than that of its twin in South Korea. And South Korea’s nuclear plant is still running up until now. If only we fired up the nuclear power plant and stopped all the politicking nonsense, we probably would have cheaper electricity right now. According to Cora, everything was set. All we had to do was press the start button, and we would have had a Nuclear Power Plant in our country. Such a sad story for something that should’ve been an excellent project.

Going back a bit, the tour will allow you to walk around inside the nuclear power plant itself.

 

We were high tech back then! We already had a biometric device for security purposes. This machine is setup right at the entrance to the facility.

Here’s the control room. Just like in the movies. And that white phone in the middle? That’s supposed to have been a direct line to the president.

 

There are so many things one can learn from joining this tour. I also learned that if the BNPP was successful, a second site was already ready for a plant number two. Unfortunately, of course, there’s nothing there right now.

I’d really like to encourage everyone to take the time out to go to this tour. The entrance fee is only 150 pesos.

Mt. Samat

 

From SCTEX you can already see Mt. Samat and the huge shrine located at the peak of the mountain. This shrine is the Dambana ng Kagitingan on Mount Samat. It is a national shrine built to honor the fallen heroes during World War II when the Japanese invaded the Philippines.

The view from this site is fantastic. One can go further up to the site of the cross either by walking, or via car. My cousin and I decided to climb up by foot, which surprisingly wasn’t as hard and long as I expected it to be. My aunts, on the other hand, decided to stay behind. Once you get up the cross, you can actually further go up inside the cross via an elevator. I think we paid twenty pesos each. But it was wonderful up there. You can see all of Bataan from there. Masarap pa magmuni muni doon. They’ve set up the place so that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the wonderful view and weather.

  

Unfortunately, there are a few rough patches of road going up the site. There were a lot of visitors including children having their field trip so hopefully the government decides to fix the roads so that more people can go and visit the shrine there.

All in all, Bataan looks to be a thriving place. Hopefully a lot more people discover this place and enjoy what it can share with us, especially as Bataan has an important role in our country’s history.