ShareThisFilipinos want to go home
as crisis deepens; P13-B
repatriation fund readied
MANILA/TOKYO — As the crisis deepens in Japan as a result of a big and devastating temblor that triggered giant tidal waves, Filipinos in the stricken area and the Japanese capital want to return to the Philippines to ensure their safety.
This developed as the Department of Foreign Affairs has waived fees of Filipinos in Japan wanting to go back to the Philippines, but the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo said that only those from the affected prefectures will be entitled to the privilege.
Officials of airlines in the Philippines – Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Airways and Air Philippines – were asked to provide special planes to ferry the Filipinos, especially children, and, if possible, to offer discounted fares to those affected.
President Benigno S. Aquino III said the government is ready to assist any Filipino citizen in Japan who needs help.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda announced the President’s offer amid reports that the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo has its hands full following the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan last Friday (March 11).
Lacierda said the government, through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, has a standby fund of P13 billion for repatriation assistance.
“Some have been expended but there is still a substantial amount left… I’m sure the President can always direct the DBM to make sure there will be funds available for repatriation assistance,” he said.
He added that the government will be sending a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane to Japan for Filipinos who opt to be repatriated.
Lacierda said the C-130 plane will be transporting relief goods, such as water and instant noodles, as immediate assistance for Filipinos affected by the devastation.
“For those who would want to leave Japan but has no means, the C-130 could be used to bring them home,” he said.
A C-130 plane can carry more than one hundred passengers.
Lacierda said the plane will land at Narita International Airport and will wait for Filipinos who would want to return to the country.
There is no information yet as to the schedule of departure of the plane.
Lacierda noted that Japan is still in alert level 2, which means that the government can only implement voluntary repatriation.
The primary concern of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, according to Lacierda, is to make sure that the Filipinos affected by the earthquake are properly accounted for, identified and taken cared of.
He added that in the absence of any monetary capability of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, “it is common sense that they will provide shelter for those in need,” he added.
“Our resources are limited,” he said “but the embassy there will certainly assist the Filipinos there who will seek their help.”
According to Lacierda, there are 2,366 Filipinos in Fukushima, 1,039 in Minami, 906 in Iwati and 551 in Mori. These areas were severely devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.
Earlier, hoax text messages about nuclear fallout having allegedly reached Philippine skies triggered panic in the highly populated Metro Manila as a result of the strong earthquake in Japan which caused explosions to its nuclear reactors.
But the fears of Metro Manilans were immediately allayed by President Aquino and officials, including the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), thePhilippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), which assured that there was nothing to worry about possible adverse effects of the nuclear meltdown in Japan.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona and Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo said it was unlikely radiation from the Japan nuclear reactors would reach the Philippines. The two Cabinet officials assured that contingency measures have been adopted and that the government was ready to response to any emergency.
Meanwhile, 31 of about 300,000 Filipinos living in Japan have been reported missing and efforts have been exerted to locate them. Earlier, 30 missing Filipino seamen were rescued and were on the way back to Manila.
At press time, lack of food and water for victims gripped wide areas in Japan even as power and communications lines have remained cut off in many areas while restored in other areas affected by the big quake and tsunami.
The death toll in the disaster may well be more than 10,000 as details of the destruction surfaced. Bodies counted already have surpassed 5,000.
On order of President Aquino, the government is continuously monitoring the situation in Japan, particularly the whereabouts of Filipinos there and the effects of the quake to Japan’s nuclear facilities, said Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abegail Valte.
The Senate committees on environment and climate change, meanwhile, has scheduled a hearing on the status of the risk reduction and management plans of national and local government agencies in the wake of the Japan disaster, said Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.
The probe came in the wake of a warning from noted architect Felino Palafox that the Philippines was not ready for a major quake as it failed to act on a study and recommendation by experts, including Japan, in 2004 for the country to undertake risk reduction plans.
Palafox said Metro Manila lacked rescue and evacuation facilities to cope with such a major disaster even as experts warned that the Marikina fault line was approaching its “active phases.”
President Aquino wants regular updates on the Japan situation to ensure the safety of Filipinos and make sure that a nuclear meltdown would not affect the Philippines, Valte said.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona said in a press briefing attended by President Aquino and Cabinet members that the public need not panic about suffering from radiation exposure resulting from the damages to a Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
“The Philippines is safe from radiation,” Ona said, as the pattern of the wind indicated that it was towards north and away from the Philippines.
“It’s a point of concern for the President because it concerns the health of the country which is involved. It’s a point of concern which is why he asked for regular updates on the matter given that it’s not only one incident… I believe there are six reactors that are in Fukushima,” Valte said. “So he wants regular updates on how these will affect us in case there will be more problems.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) which maintains its Asia Pacific office in Manila stressed that there is minimal public health risk arising from radioactive leaks from Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors.
“From what we know at the moment on the radiation levels, the public health risk is minimal for Japan,” said Gregory Hartl, WHO spokesman.
Valte said the government has contingency measures in place should the situation worsens.
She noted, however, that the primary concern of the government is on the safety of Filipinos who are still in Japan and the monitoring of the situation.
Valte urged the public to refrain from disseminating false information on the situation in Japan.
“We want to tell people giving false informations that these things have no place in these kind of situation because it is already sensitive,” she said.
A magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit Japan last Friday, triggering a 30-foot tsunami that surged across its northeast region, killing about 10,000 people and destroying buildings, airports, roads, ships and other infrastructures and properties. The intensity of the temblor was later elevated to number a record 9.
Japan is racing to prevent a nuclear disaster, as explosions rocked overheating reactors after cooling systems at three reactors failed following Friday’s big quake. Another reactor exploded on Tuesday, authorities said.
Thousands, including Filipinos, have been evacuated following the explosion and leak from the facility’s No. 1 reactor in Fukushima, 240 kilometers north of Tokyo, where there is believed to have been a partial meltdown of the fuel rods.
NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos said the NDRRMC will launch the National Radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (RADPLAN) which covers nuclear emergencies.
Ramos said the RADPLAN “establishes an organized emergency response capability for timely, coordinated action of Philippine authorities” in cases of radiological incidents or emergencies.
Ramos issued the statement after a meeting with key government officials who discussed contingency plans in case of a radiation spill over the Philippines.
The meeting was attended by officials of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Agnette Peralta, head of the DOH-Bureau of Health Devices and Technology, said during the NDRRMC meeting that the health department is planning to procure prophylactic potassium iodide as a protection against radiation, in case radioactive materials reach the Philippines.
“We have to protect the thyroid gland because radioactive iodine is one of the radioactive substances that may be included in the plume should the plume reach us. But as of now, based on the data available, it’s not reaching the Philippines,” said Peralta.