From Megaproject to White Elephant: Lessons from the Philippines’s Bataan Nuclear Power Plant
Ronald U. Mendoza: Ateneo de Manila University,
Donald Jay Bertulfo: Ateneo de Manila University,
Jerome Patrick Cruz: Ateneo de Manila University
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/
Abstract
Drawing from recent literature on white elephant projects, this article examines the case of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP)—the paradigmatic example of a white elephant project in the Philippines. The BNPP megaproject had massive implications for the country’s fiscal standing and long-term economic prospects, offering lessons for future projects of this size and significance. By revisiting the BNPP’s problematic history as well as the continuing infrastructure governance challenges in the post-Marcos period, this study outlines the repercussions of such dynamics for the Philippine government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, the most ambitious since the Marcos era.
KEYWORDS: BATAAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT • INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT • MEGAPROJECTS • RENT-SEEKING • PUBLIC–PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (PPP)
Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints is published by the Ateneo de Manila University
ISSN: 2244-1093 (Print) ISSN: 2244-1638 (Online)
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