From Megaproject to White Elephant: Lessons from the Philippines’s Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

• Main Authors: Mendoza, Ronald U.;, Bertulfo, Donald Jay;, Cruz, Jerome Patrick;
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2018
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/phstudies/vol66/iss3/4; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/phstudies/article/4306/viewcontent/6472.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Drawing from recent literature on white elephant projects, thisarticle 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)