In Zambales, town braces for Chinese rocket debris

SUNSET WATCHERS Tourists watch the sunset in San Miguel, San Antonio, Zambales, on Saturday. The waters off the coastal village are within the area that the Philippine Space Agency says people may find floating debris from a Chinese rocket launched on Friday. —JOANNA AGLIBOT

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES—Disaster response officials in Masinloc town in Zambales province said they were ready to handle any debris from a recently launched rocket in China that might have found its way into their waters.

According to Joel Tovera, head of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Masinloc, they have contingency plans in place if there would be rocket debris that would drop in their area.

“We have all the needed equipment and we are on duty 24/7 to monitor such things,” he said in a phone interview on Sunday.

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) warned sea vessels around Bajo de Masinloc, locally known as Panatag or Scarborough Shoal, to watch out for floating debris from a Chinese rocket launched last Friday.

The shoal is about 240 kilometers from the coastline of Zambales.

The PhilSA, in an advisory issued on Saturday, said that the rocket was launched at 2:27 p.m. (Philippine time) on March 31 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia.

Citing the Notice to Airmen issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the PhilSA said that expected unburned debris discarded before the rocket entered outer space is projected to have fallen approximately 398 km from Scarborough Shoal.

Discarded debris

“The debris is unlikely to have dropped on land features or inhabited areas within the Philippine territory. However, discarded debris may float around the area or wash to nearby coasts,” the agency said.

The PhilSA also cautioned everyone against retrieving or coming in close contact with debris that may contain remnants of toxic substances such as rocket fuel.

They also advised the public to avoid retrieving sighted debris and instead immediately inform local authorities for appropriate action.

In October last year, another Chinese rocket carrying the Mengtian laboratory module for the Tiangong space station was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island. Tiangong space station is a research facility being built by China in orbit.

The PhilSA also issued warnings regarding floating debris.

Some debris suspected to have come from last year’s Chinese rocket was found in the waters off Palawan and Occidental Mindoro. INQ