MANILA, Philippines - The body of one of two Filipinas trapped inside a collapsed supermarket in Haiti was recovered yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported.
Citing a report of Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, commander of the 10th Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent, the DFA said the body of Mary Grace Fabian was pulled out from the rubble of Caribbean Supermarket in Port-au-Prince three weeks after an intensity 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti last Jan. 12.
Fabian’s body was recovered by the Central National Equipment Retrieval team, assisted by some members of the Philippine contingent headed by Corporal Eric Dedales and Senior Navy Officer I Carlo Dangcalan.
Lowel Lalican identified Fabian through her uniform, hair and necklace.
Lalican is the husband of Fabian’s co-worker Geraldine Lalican who was also trapped under the rubble of the supermarket and remains unaccounted for.
Both Fabian and Lalican worked at the Caribbean Supermarket.
Fabian’s sister Rosalyn decided to immediately bury her remains at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince.
The Philippine contingent in Haiti is currently securing the Caribbean Supermarket area and is continuing recovery efforts for Lalican.
Philippine Honorary Consul to Haiti Fitzgerald Brandt is supervising the recovery efforts.
Philippine Ambassador to Havana MacArthur Corsino led the fifth and last batch of 32 Filipinos repatriated from Haiti that arrived in Manila last Friday.
That brought to 63 the total number of Filipinos that have returned from Haiti after the earthquake.
The repatriation program is a major component in the plan of action approved during the meeting of the Philippine Task Force for Recovery, Relief, Assistance and Repatriation in Haiti.