MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is not prepared should the Ukraine-Russia conflict escalate into a nuclear war, vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong said Sunday during the Commission on Elections (Comelec) debates.
Another vice presidential candidate, Manny Lopez, said the Philippines should adopt an independent foreign policy amid the “big possibility” of nuclear war due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Lopez had been asked what kind of policy he would suggest to the president.
“The geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific Region could lead to a bigger conflict as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war that is ongoing,” Lopez said in response.
“In order to prevent our country from getting engaged in a bigger nuclear conflict — there is a big possibility that it could happen during our lifetime — we should assume or push for an independent foreign policy,” Lopez added.
Dr. Willie Ong (Photo from his Facebook account)
Ong added, however, that the country should prepare for a possibility of nuclear war “just in case” the war escalates.
“The Philippines is not ready for a nuclear radiation emergency preparedness,” he said in Filipino. “We are not ready. Other countries are ready for that. We need to buy potassium iodide. And we also need to have fallout shelters. We need to be prepared in case it comes to a war like that.”
Potassium iodide can help block radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid gland — which is the most sensitive organ to radioactive iodine — protecting it from radiation injury, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Russia-Ukraine war is now in its fourth week, with Ukraine’s elected government still standing and with the Russian forces not capturing a single big city.
The Philippines is voting in favor of a United Nations resolution expressing “explicit condemnation” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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