Canadian government donates anti-nuke equipment to RP

By Ronron
March 21, 2007

The Canadian government on Wednesday donated to the Philippines several pieces of equipment that can be used to counter chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear (CBRN) attacks in the future.

The “contribution” of 247,638 Canadian dollars worth of equipment was formalized by the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by Philippine Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr. and Canadian Ambassador to Manila Peter Sutherland.

The MOA signing was held yesterday morning at the Department of National Defense (DND) building inside Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

“What we are doing actually is a must for the government agencies so that they will be prepared to react to such situation (CBRN attacks)… And we need this so that the personnel of the first responders will be protected,” Ebdane told reporters after the ceremonial signing.

The donation include 100 pieces of Respirator C4, 1,000 pieces of Respirator Canister, 300 CBRN Suits, 240 boots, 240 gloves, and, 30 kit bags, all for personnel protection; 150 pieces of 3-way-detect paper, 150 pieces of Nav-D, and three pieces of Drager CDS Kits complete with extra tubes, all for detection capability; and, four Dosimeter (Siemens EPD Mk.2.3), four TBM-3s Pancake Meter, four Face Plate (TBM-3S), two Meters FH-40G, one Software PC program, and, one Interface Cable, all four Radiation Detection.

The equipment will be distributed among agencies attached to the Philippine’s National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). These are: the Joint Special Operations Group of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; the Bureau of Fire Protection; the Department of Health; the Environment Management Bureau; the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute; the Philippine Coast Guard; the Manila International Airport Authority; the Philippine Ports Authority; the Metro Manila Development Authority; the National Bureau of Investigation; the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police; and the Philippine General Hospital.

Sutherland said he expects that after the distribution of all equipment, the receiving Philippine government agencies will “be able to function more effectively when addressing the threat posed by terrorism and transnational crimes.”

“It’s ironic, we are turning this over to you. But we sincerely hope you never have to use it. It’s like an insurance policy,” the envoy said.

In response, Ebdane said: “It’s better to have one and don’t need it, rather than to need it and don’t have it.”

Ebdane pointed out that there were already CBRN incidents in Japan, Pakistan and London, and threats in the US mainland.

“It’s a wakeup call to all other countries to prepare for such eventuality so that if something happens similar to that, there will be specific personnel from specific agencies that can react,” he said.

But he clarified that at the moment, “there are no indicators” of any CBRN threat in the Philippines./DMS