Nuclear Damage Liability in the Philippines is Capped at Mere US$5 Million

The President's 2026 SONA told Congress to revisit Nuclear Energy. But under the law in force today, if a nuclear reactor fails on Philippine soil, the operator’s civil liability is capped at a mere US$5 million (PHP 300 million). If you consider the scale of the Fukushima disaster (160,000 displaced residents, US$ 188 billion), applying this severely outdated cap would mean that the operator will only compensate each victim at less than PHP 2,000. In 2025, Congress passed a new nuclear regulatory regime and created PhilATOM, but that new law states that the civil liability regime of the old 1968 law “shall continue to apply.” Hence, before the first operator license is even awarded, the Philippines must legislate the proper new nuclear civil liability regime.