Philippine activists wear cut-outs shaped as rockets during a protest in Manila yesterday against North Korea’s failed long-range rocket launch earlier in the day. The Philippines lifted a ban on flights and sailing in the north of the country after the failure of North Korea’s rocket launch
DPA/Manila

The Philippines yesterday heaved a sigh of relief and lifted alert warnings against falling debris along the country’s north-eastern coast after North Korea’s rocket launch failed.
Authorities had closed the country’s north-east airways and seas to airplanes and vessels. “The no-fly zone, no-sail zone and no-fishing zone orders have been lifted,” said Benito Ramos, executive director of the Office of Civil Defence. “We are all very relieved that nothing untoward happened.” Ramos said the rocket fell into the sea west of South Korea.
The Philippines also condemned the launch despite its failure and urged Pyongyang to “desist from acts of provocation and to end its use or testing of ballistic missile technology.”
The launch drew condemnation from the international community, which has expressed fears that it was cover for a ballistic missile test, which would violate UN resolutions.
“North Korea should abide by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and abandon all existing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner,” Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said.