The Philippine Online Chronicles

Following the upgrading of the danger level around the earthquake-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant in Japan to maximum, President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the mandatory repatriation of all Filipinos within 50 kilometers of the site.

Japan raised the security level to 'major accident’, the highest level on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear security scale. Inquirer.net reports that this puts the Fukushima crisis on par with the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Around 2,000 Filipinos live within the area.

“With this information, and upon the instruction of the President, we are initiating action to repatriate on a mandatory basis Filipinos who are within 50-km of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant,” said Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario.

Del Rosario added that all Filipinos within 100 km of the nuclear plant are encouraged to leave. He added that the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo would oversee the repatriation.

Repatriation is set to begin on Sunday.

“Our plan to repatriate will involve the chartering of aircraft which is being planned to originate from Niigata airport located in northwest Japan,” said Del Rosario.

He added that the DFA’s funds for repatriation had been depleted by the mass evacuation efforts from Libya, but DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said that the funds will be replenished by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“The cost of a chartered flight is USD$200,000. We in the DFA have the funds for it. Occasionally, the DBM will replenish our Assistance To Nationals (ATN) fund,” he said.

No nuclear threat in the PHL

Meanwhile, the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) said on Wednesday that the Philippines remains safe from the radiation coming from Fukushima.

"The impact of radiation from Japan to the Philippines remains insignificant as it has been from the beginning," said PNRI Deputy Director Corazon Bernido.

She added that people can expect the nuclear threat to ease off as Japan struggles to avoid a nuclear meltdown.

"The situation in Japan has not changed... In fact, it is slowly getting better… We think the worst is past," she said. “The situation will only get worse if they stop cooling the [nuclear reactors in the] power plant. As long as they keep cooling it, it will be okay."