By Gina Tabonares-Reilly
HAGATNA, Guam”•Following the impending threat of a North Korean missile strike on the US Territory of Guam, the Philippine Consulate has instituted contingency plans and converted the newly built consulate residence into a command center as island officials on Monday reassured residents, tourists and the world that Guam is still one of the safest places in the world.
Philippine Consulate General Marciano De Borja said the consulate team had started storing emergency kits, gasoline, masking tapes, bottled water, batteries and canned goods that could last a week as part of their contingency measures.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Monday approved the recommendation of the Consulate General of the Philippines in Agatna to place Guam and the Northern Mariana islands on Alert Level 1 following North Korea’s threat to bomb the island.
Alert level 1 “simply acknowledges that the situation developing at this time is out of the ordinary and bears paying close attention to,” the department said in a memo to the Filipino residents in the area.
“Please stay in touch with your families and friends so that they know how to contact you. It will be prudent to share your travel itinerary with them, and in the event of a contingency, do let them know that you are safe,” De Borja said.
Under Alert Level 1 the Filipinos in Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota must be aware of the unfolding events and to continue monitoring the reports from reliable media outlets and the official advisories from the Government of Guam and the Guam Homeland Security-Office of Civil Defense.
As the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang that put Guam in the middle of a nuclear cross hairs continued to rise, Guam Governor Eddie B. Calvo said there was no heightened security threat alert issued and that it was business as usual as far as the island was concerned.
“The island state’s of readiness has not changed. All eyes are on us while we watch and wait to see who will make the next move. We can assure the people of Guam and our visitors that we are safe here and nothing to worry,” Calvo said.
Although Guam officials issued some precautionary measures and guidelines on what to do in the event the missiles struck the island, Guam Homeland Security Adviser George Charfauros said the chance of any missile getting through the US missile defense systems was 00000.1 percent.
De Borja said part of the plan was to request some charter flights to evacuate people at the same time that the command center would be used as a shelter for Filipinos who would seek refuge.
De Borja said the contingency plan had been submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs and would be implemented in the event of a crisis.
“Although the majority of the Filipinos are American citizens that have the means to go to their relatives elsewhere, our new house, which is scheduled for inauguration in November will be open to consulate staff and their families and whoever wants to seek refuge during the crisis,” De Borja said.
The 1,000-square meter, two-story house in Jonestown Tamuning is equipped with a high-powered generator, has several rooms, a basement and a big yard that can be converted into an office if the consulate office becomes inoperable.
Charfauros said he gave options to his staff to evacuate with their families if they could not handle the pressure and stress brought about by the looming crisis, but that only five opted to leave in the first wave of evacuees.
He added he would request additional people from the DFA if the situation became more difficult.
According to Charfauros, in the event that North Korea fired its missile, Guam residents had only 14 minutes to secure themselves and so evacuation was not an option.
“We are not going to evacuate people. It’s going to be too short a time and too chaotic,” he said.
The government officials encouraged residents to prepare like storing some food and water similar to how they prepared for typhoon. They discouraged people from panicking and creating unsettling scenarios.
“Although we have a zero, zero, zero, zero, zero one chance, it’s important to put out these relevant information and not for the purpose of causing panic,” Calvo said.
Guam, a 210-square-mile paradise, is about 2,000 miles from Philippines and is home to 160,000 people, and of whom 6,000 are US service members and 43,000 are Filipinos. With Sara Susanne D. Fabunan