MANILA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Small-scale fishers in the Philippines on Thursday slammed Japan for dumping Fukushima nuclear plant wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, vowing to hold a protest rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Manila to dramatize their protest against Japan's action.
"Japan's action pollutes the ocean, endangering the marine resources and destroying the ecosystem," said Ronnel Arambulo, the vice chair of the group PAMALAKAYA, a federation of community fishers' organization.
Arambulo said Japan repeatedly ignored the growing clamor of the people from many East Asian nations, especially the farmers and fishers, to stop the dumping of toxic radioactive waste into the world's largest ocean.
Japan started Thursday releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean.
The toxic wastewater will endanger the resource-rich marine environment of the Philippines, Arambulo added, urging the Philippine government to oppose Japan's move.
Meanwhile, the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs said the Southeast Asian country "continues to look at this issue from a science- and fact-based perspective and its impact on the waters in the region." ■
