Tubag Bohol With Mike Ligalig

Philstar – Tue, Apr 10, 2012


MANILA, Philippines - The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has placed its personnel on red alert to monitor the controversial satellite launch of North Korea this week.

Government officials yesterday also warned the public of possible rocket debris that might fall into Philippine territory.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has issued a “notice to airmen” or Notam regarding the diversion of flights from the northeast portion of northeastern and eastern Luzon that could be hit by derbis from the North Korean rocket.

NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos said the areas that might be affected include Buguey, Gonzaga, Santa Ana in Cagayan; Palanan, Maconacon, Divilacan, Dinapigue; Casiguran, Dilasag, Dinalungan, Baler, and Dingalan in Aurora; Real, Infanta and Nakar in Quezon; and Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur in Bicol.

Debris may also hit Basco, Batanes, Ramos said.

Officials of the NDRRMC, CAAP, and Philippine Airlines have met last March to discuss the alternative flight plans to be used by PAL planes that normally traverse the northeastern part of Luzon.

The airliner would re-route some flights to avoid the possible effects over Philippine territory of the plan of North Korea to launch a satellite into orbit this month.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said that a stage of the rocket that would put the satellite into orbit is expected to fall just east of Luzon when the launch is conducted between April 12 and 16, which would force PAL flights to divert their routes to avoid the area.

More at: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/govt-red-alert-rocket-debris-164719850.html

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US hype?

The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) accused the government of overreacting to the planned rocket launch, saying it was blindly joining the US in hyping a supposed threat of nuclear fallout from the rocket launch.

“While safety precautions against rocket debris are ok, the reaction of the Philippine government is more in line with the hype being stirred by the US in relation to so-called ballistic missile tests that the North Koreans are allegedly undertaking,” Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said.

“The US is trying to deny North Korea’s sovereign right to launch a satellite for peaceful use by hypocritically using the specter of nuclear weapons,” Reyes said.

“Fact of the matter is, North Korea has said over and over again that the rocket launch is for peaceful scientific use. It has even invited foreign journalists and observers to witness the launch and scrutinize the rocket,” he added.

Bayan said the US remains the world’s biggest nuclear threat since it possesses some 5,100 nuclear warheads strategically placed all over the world in its nuclear submarines and military bases. In contrast, North Korea has suspended its nuclear weapons test and uranium enrichment program and allowed international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex.

“The nuke bogey is just the latest US ploy to justify sanctions and military intervention against North Korea. It’s the US which has long been threatening North Korea. Meanwhile, North Korea does not pose a threat to the Philippines or any nation in Asia for that matter. North Korea has always aspired for peaceful reunification with South Korea and for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” Reyes said.

“The US on the other hand, has always sought to establish its military presence everywhere in the world, acting as some kind of global police. It is now seeking to expand its permanent military presence in the Philippines.”

The group also called the Philippine government’s posturing versus North Korea hypocritical. “The PH government is up in arms over North Korea’s rocket test, but is eerily silent about the use of US drones in Philippine airspace. The PH government has not even sought any explanation for the US government’s secret storage of nuclear weapons in the Philippines during the last century,” Reyes said. Bayan likewise noted that based on a declassified document from the independent non-governmental organization National Security Archive based in the George Washington University, the US government had secretly stored nuclear weapons in the Philippines during the Marcos regime. --http://ph.news.yahoo.com/worst-case-scenario-evacuation-luzon-201715257.html

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