MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III Tuesday ordered the “mandatory” repatriation of Filipinos living within 50 kilometers of the Fukushima nuclear plant after Japan upgraded its nuclear emergency to the maximum level on par with the Chernobyl catastrophe. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also called for the voluntary return of Filipinos residing within 100 km of the nuclear plant.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters he expected the returnees to total around 2,000, not including their children.
“With this information, and upon the instruction of the President, we are initiating action to repatriate on a mandatory basis Filipinos who are within 50-km of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant,” Del Rosario said.
Although the phrase used was mandatory repatriation, Del Rosario conceded “there is no way we can force anyone to go if they decide to stay.”
First flight
Del Rosario said that the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo would oversee the repatriation. He said the Philippines will pay for the repatriation.
The first chartered flight bringing the Filipinos home is expected to take off on Sunday from Niigata Airport in northwest Japan, Del Rosario said.
“I think what would happen is we’ll probably relocate them as quickly as we can from those areas where the risk is highest,” he said, adding the embassy has deployed staff for the effort.
Upon their arrival in the Philippines, the repatriates will be promptly subjected to radiation screening, he said.
The secretary acknowledged that there might be “challenges” involving Filipinos married to Japanese or with children of mixed parentage. In such cases, he said the embassy could accommodate the Japanese spouse at his or her own expense.
Funds depleted
Del Rosario likened the situation in Japan to Libya, where many Filipinos remained despite the escalating violence.
He said the Libya conflict had depleted the DFA’s funds, but these were replenished by the Office of the President. One round-trip charter flight to Japan will cost the Philippines $200,000, he said.
The DFA also released the following embassy hotline numbers in case of emergency: (03)5562-1573, (03)5562-1574, (03)5562-1570, (03)5562-1590. The embassy can also be reached by e-mail through: emergency@philembassy.net .
DJ Yap, Inquirer.net
