PHL Embassy: 55 Pinoys in Japan want to be repatriated

At least 55 Filipinos in Japan have expressed their desire to be repatriated to the Philippines as the radiation leak in the tsunami- and quake-crippled country has become widespread, the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo reported on Wednesday. Through the Department of Foreign Affairs, the embassy said it has identified Omiya in Saitama prefecture as a meeting place for Filipinos who want their travel documents to be processed before repatriation. Filipinos in Japan are expected to arrive in the Philippines by Sunday, the DFA said in a statement. The department said the embassy has likewise arranged for their accommodation in Saitama while waiting for repatriation. On Tuesday, the DFA announced that it will implement a mandatory repatriation for Filipinos within 50 to 100 kilometers (km) of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan has already raised to the highest level the crisis or severity level in the crippled power plant. There are some 1,989 Filipinos within 100 km of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to the DFA. Authorities are continuously coordinating with these Filipinos to determine if they want to be relocated or repatriated, said DFA spokesperson Ed Malaya. “Sa kasalukuyan kinakausap ng ating mga kawani sa embahada ang mga kababayan natin sa affected areas at gumagawa ng listahan (Our embassy personnel are contacting them to see who among them want to be repatriated and who want to be relocated. We are drawing up the list now)," he said. Chartered flights Malaya said the DFA is not keen on using the government’s lone working C-130 plane to repatriate Filipinos from the affected areas. He said the government is more keen on using chartered private planes — either a 747 or Airbus 320 — which can accommodate at least 200 Filipinos. “Hindi C-130 ang tinitingnan ngayon. Ito ang pag-charter ng private airplanes. Ang target natin magpadala ng chartered flight sa Linggo (We are not looking to use a C-130. We plan to charter a private plane. We are aiming to have the first chartered flight take off this Sunday)," he said. Fukushima nuclear power plant The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located on a 3.5-square-km site in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The nuclear plant became "disabled" nuclear power plant after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11. The plant's nuclear reactor cooling systems were disabled, triggering radiation leaks and forcing the evacuation of people residing near the nuclear power plant. Japanese authorities have raised the severity level in the nuclear plant area to "7," the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The severity level of the crisis at the stricken nuclear plant now ranks at par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster based on the amount of radiation released in Fukushima plant in Japan. – JE, GMA News