Palace mum on North Korea rocket launch

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday refused to answer queries about its position regarding news that Philippines is among the countries in danger of being hit by a rocket of North Korea.

“We will leave it to our Armed Forces on how to deal with that information. Of course, there is a sharing of information especially when it comes to incidents like this one or an impending incident,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Valte said the AFP is making its own preparation regarding the planned rocket launch.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Thursday that the Philippine government is seeking US help to track the North Korean long-range rocket, part of which is expected to land off the Philippines.

“It’s mostly our own Armed Forces who are making its own preparations for this,” Valte said.

“Hopefully, this is something that can be addressed at the soonest possible time. We are not the only country who has raised our objection to this,” was all she would say about the issue.

Valte noted Indonesia and Australia also raised their concerns on the North Korean rocket’s expected path.

“Which is why, if you notice, the statement of Secretary Albert del Rosario is very vigorous in objecting to the possible event because we are quite near and we are expecting the possible effect of that (rocket launch),” she said.

North Korea announced last week it would launch the rocket to place a satellite in orbit between April 12 and 16, insisting it was for peaceful space research.

But the US and other nations see North Korea’s plan as a thinly veiled long-range missile test, which would breach the UN ban.

In a letter to the UN’s International Maritime Organization, North Korea said the second stage of its latest rocket was expected to splash down 190 kilometers east of northern Philippines.

The first stage of the rocket would fall about 140 kilometers off South Korea’s west coast, in international waters between China and South Korea, the letter said.

On Wednesday, the Philippine government joined its US and South Korean allies in criticizing North Korea’s planned launch, calling it “unacceptable.”

“The Philippine military is ready to coordinate with its US counterpart in the monitoring of the planned launch,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a separate statement.