Aquino assures preparations for N. Korea missile launch

PHNOM PENH–President Benigno Aquino III said on Tuesday night that his government was preparing for anything that may happen if North Korea would launch a missile mid-April and that as a result debris would fall into the Philippines, possibly in waters “substantially off” Aurora province.

And President Aquino said this included asking help from experts like those from the United States and Japan who could help tell the country exactly where the debris from Pyongyang’s missile would land in the event it would be launched anywhere from April 12 to 16.

Aquino is expected to raise his concerns on the North Korean missile test in Wednesday’s retreat of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) prior to the closing of the two-day summit.

“We are preparing for any eventuality,” the President said during coffee time with reporters covering his attendance here at the 20th Asean summit.

“We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Instead of preparing for the best and be totally unprepared for the worst,” he added.

Speaking to reporters at the Sofitel hotel here, President Aquino made it clear that the situation the country was going to face from the outcome of the missile launch by Pyongyang was not going to be doomsday.

“My appeal to you is please don’t write that the Earth is falling tomorrow because people will panic,” he told reporters, as he recalled the panic that ensued following the controversy in 1979 when US satellite Skylab disintegrtaed in space and its debris falling in Western Australia.

At that time, Aquino said “everybody thought [the debris from the Skylab] was going to fall in their backyard.”

At present, authorities were now analyzing “very well” the possible eventualities, according to President Aquino who added that he hadinstructed the Office of Civil Defense and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to make the necessary preparations.

The Chief Executive made it clear that while reports showed him that the debris may go “substantially off” waters of Aurora province, experts would not really know until the missile would be launched.

“We’re touching base with everybody who has the expertise to tell us what are the dangers; how big an area will be affected or will beconsidered danger zones; how high is the probability that it presents real danger to our citizens in land,” he said.

And the President said his government had initially asked the United States for assistance and probably Japan which like the Philippines had expressed concern over the missile launch.

“You know, we’re setting up our own…lab system. Our radars have a very low, small window of areas that they can survey. Now we will ask those that have a more extensive surveillance capabilities to be able to give us more warning time in case it really poses a danger to any of our population,” Mr. Aquino said.