Better brush up on geography, says Phivolcs
MANILA, Philippines—Better brush up on geography so you won’t get fooled by hoax text messages and erroneous information amid the radiation alert in Japan, the country’s chief volcanologist said Tuesday.
“It is important for us to go back to what we’ve learned in Araling Panlipunan, particularly geography so that we won’t be alarmed by such text messages and we can avoid the unnecessary worry,” said Renato Solidum Jr., head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Solidum said the tsunami alert, which the Phivolcs raised on the eastern coast of the country following the powerful quake and tsunami that ravaged Japan on Friday, also caused residents in the Philippines’ western region to suffer needless panic attacks.
Solidum requested the media to incorporate a little background on geography whenever they broadcast reports about the effects of the nuclear power crisis on the quake-ravaged northeastern coast of Japan.
“We need to educate them so when you present news, give them a little bit of a background because there are a lot of people panicking even if they don’t have to,” he said at a forum hosted by the Catholic Media Network in Intramuros, Manila.
Fear also gripped some parts of the country on Monday following false reports that radioactive fallout from crippled nuclear plants in Japan would reach the Philippines.
The rumors, which circulated through text messages, sent people home from school and work and drove a number of them to buy the antiseptic Betadine in the false belief that it would protect them from radioactive particles blowing from Japan.
The rumors prompted the president of Polytechnic University of the Philippines to suspend classes on Monday.
The text messages spread even as officials and experts repeatedly announced that the prevailing wind was blowing northeast from Japan toward the Pacific Ocean and would not reach the country.
Government physicists reiterated Tuesday that radiation from the damaged nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan, posed no danger to the Philippines.
Normal radiation
Even after another explosion rocked the nuclear plant in Fukushima on Tuesday morning, Alumanda de la Rosa of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute said radiation in the Philippine atmosphere was normal, at 105.16 nanosievert per hour as of Tuesday.
This was equivalent to .000105 millisievert (mSv) per hour, significantly much lower than the radiation at the crippled Japanese nuclear plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the fire at the plant’s fourth unit Tuesday released radiation at 400 mSv per hour.
De la Rosa said ambient or background radiation in the country was similar to last year’s measurement.
Other Asian countries
Solidum’s advice also applies to people in neighboring countries who have received similar text messages or e-mails.
“It is crazy, people have been reading about the situation in Japan and they are demanding iodine tablets but most pharmacies don’t stock the tablets,” said Kuala Lumpur pharmacist Paul Ho.
US-based firms selling potassium iodide, a radiation sickness preventative, completely ran out of stock and pharmacies across the country’s Pacific-facing West Coast had a rush on the over-the-counter pills.
Potassium iodide is a salt used to saturate the thyroid gland to block the uptake of radioactive iodine, a highly carcinogenic substance that can leak from nuclear reactors in an accident.
Not radiation antidotes
Talk about radiation poisoning was so feverish on Twitter and other forums that the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement urging calm.
“Consult your #doctor before taking #iodine pills. Do not self-medicate!” the WHO said on its Twitter page.
Iodine pills are “not radiation antidotes” and offer no protection against radioactive elements such as cesium, the UN health agency said, stressing they also carried health risks for some people, including pregnant women.
The WHO also cautioned against drinking or applying iodine liquid, commonly used as an antiseptic, after a rush on the wound cleaner in Asian countries, where iodine is typically only available in hospitals or by prescription.
De Lima got message, too
Even Justice Secretary Leila de Lima almost fell for the hoax.
De Lima said a simple check with the BBC news channel showed that the supposed “news flash” from the British broadcaster was untrue.
She joked at a press conference that she almost asked someone to buy Betadine as well, as instructed by the text message.
With the panic generated by fake warnings, she said she was inclined to “propose” that the authorities track down its source.
De Lima said the source of the message should be held accountable especially if he or she sent it out “in bad faith.”
Be discerning
Education officials called on the public to be more discerning about alarming text messages.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro called on school officials, students and parents to use prudence in handling sensitive information from unconfirmed sources.
The Department of Education on Monday issued an advisory to public elementary and high schools nationwide that “there is no need to suspend classes” amid rumors about acid rain.
Executive Director Julito Vitriolo of the Commission on Higher Education said school officials must first check with the commission or the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council before exercising their discretion to suspend classes.
In Bacolod City, Bishop Vicente Navarra called on the public to stop causing fear by spreading false rumors and text messages.
He urged the people to instead offer prayers for the tsunami victims. With reports from Tarra Quismundo in Manila; Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; and Agence France-Presse
