Tadios, Jude Francis E.

Supporters of Ferdinand "BongBong" Marcos Jr. have consistently paraded his

achievement of facilitating the building of the Bangui Wind Farm in Ilocos Norte. Even
Marcos Jr. himself consistently takes advantage of this as part of his campaign in the 2016
and 2022 National Elections. One of these is a Facebook post of his, claiming that it was one
of his projects during his term as governor in Ilocos Norte. Posted on November 9, 2015, it
has since garnered 83k reactions and 30k shares, which was posted in support of his Vice
Presidential campaign.

This claim is FALSE. The

Bangui Wind Farm, a row of
windmills stretching along the
coastline of Bangui, Ilocos Norte,
was not Marcos Jr.’s project.
Northwind Power Development
Corp. (NPDC) was instead the one
who initiated and planned the
project. The Bangui Wind Farm,
which was the first wind power
plant in the Philippines and
Southeast Asia, was the flagship
project of Northwind Power
Development Corp, which currently
owns and operates the windmills
(Cabie, 2016). NPDC is a
company owned by Filipino and
Danish businessmen and is now
acquired by AC Energy Holdings,
under the Ayala Group of
Companies.

Building the said windmills

in the place was a result of a study
conducted by the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 1996. The said study, among other places, pitched
Ilocos Norte as an ideal place with excellent wind resources, resulting from their wind
mapping (Elliott, 2000). Funding for the project was supported by the Danish International
Development Agency (DANIDA), which provided 30 million dollars in loans and more than 10
million dollars in grants, with the loans being interest-free (PhilStar, 2005). According to a
Facebook post by the World Bank Philippines in 2021, the World Bank also provided support
through the Prototype Carbon Fund by allowing NDPC to “generate more resources through
the sale of ‘carbon emission reduction credits’ under the Clean Development Mechanism of
the Kyoto Protocol.”

Although its construction began in 1999, during Marcos Jr.’s term as governor, he
had no hand in the planning and construction of the wind farm. In a news article in 2005, he
expresses that the government had no involvement in the project, saying, "Frankly, if there’s
money to be made the province would have involved itself" (PhilStar, 2005). Furthermore, in
an interview with ANC’s Headstart in 2010, he also admitted that the project was a “private
commercial enterprise.”

Today, he capitalizes on this project and claims this as his achievement, even to the
point where the claim appears and remains on his official website, as well as his TV
advertisements during his campaign for president. Through these acts, he misrepresents
himself to the people, doing such an act as it would benefit him in his career as a politician.
Politicians taking the credit and making it theirs are not unheard of, for instance, Mark Villar
drew ire due to his “credit grabbing.” The narrative about Marcos Jr. and the Bangui Wind
Farm remains unchanged until this day due to his taking advantage of such narrative and
making such fake news to be true to the people.
REFERENCES

Cabie, H. (2016). Ilocos Norte’s windmills: Tourism and energy giants.

Elliott, D. (2000). Philippines Wind Energy Resource Atlas Development. Retrieved from
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy01osti/28903.pdf?
fbclid=IwAR1bnlc1FdYoqBoieB614SaUcTKEe7kRaUzGljNEetiXgSc625KGMpfQwJ0
Philstar. (2005). Giant windmills energize Ilocos Norte. Retrieved from
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2005/10/13/301541/giant-windmills-energize-
ilocos-norte

Videos and Posts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YktiGQU267o

https://www.facebook.com/WorldBankPhilippines/photos/
a.125929159143525/231606611909112/