Siblings of Pinay crash victim get expedited passports

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs issued yesterday new passports to the sister and brother of Irene Pabellon-Gunawan, who along with her husband and two children perished in the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines jet shot down in war-torn Ukraine last July 17.

The relatives of Gunawan would travel to the Netherlands on Monday and wait for the remains of the victims.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose said Gunawan’s elder siblings Tirso Pabellon, 56, and Erlinda traveled from their hometown in Pagbilao, Quezon and went to the Office of Consular Affairs to apply for their travel documents.

Two other relatives whose identities were not immediately known also applied to get new passports.

Jose said the relatives also met yesterday morning with representatives of Malaysia Airlines to discuss travel arrangement for their trip to the Netherlands.

The DFA is also assisting the relatives with their visa applications.

“Our consular office will be applying for their visas on their behalf so the family has now gone back to Quezon,” Jose said.

Jose said Malaysia Airlines offered to provide free plane tickets and also shoulder the expenses of the Pabellon siblings, but the airline is considering the request to add two more family members who will fly to the Netherlands.

Tirso said that he and their eldest sister Erlinda would wait for news regarding the remains of the victims at the Gunawan house in Amsteelveen in Amsterdam.

The Gunawans are residents of the Netherlands.

There were reports that emergency workers recovered 196 bodies from the crash site in Ukraine last Sunday.

Irene, 55, her Indonesian husband Budyj Anto Gunawan and children Darryl Dwight, 20, and Sherryl Shania, 15, were among the 298 passengers and crew killed after the Malaysia Airlines jet went down in Ukraine near the Russian border.

Pabellon said he and Erlinda would also check the condition of their youngest sister Lilia, who also lives in the Netherlands and is reportedly suffering from trauma after the death of the Gunawan family.

The Pabellons left yesterday their house in Barangay Bucal in Pagbilao to travel to the DFA to process their passports and other travel documents.

Jose said Lilia Pabellon had requested her two siblings in Quezon to bring the remains of their dead sister back to the Philippines.

Tirso lauded the support of the government and the media that helped them relay their message to the country and to the world.

Jose said the DFA would also assist in the event one of the siblings has to go to Ukraine to identify the remains.

Mrs. Gunawan planned to attend a family reunion on July 27 in Quezon with her Indonesian husband, an employee of Malaysia Airlines, and their two children.

The Philippines condemned on Saturday the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine and urged the international community to come together to determine and hold accountable those responsible for the “unconscionable” assault on the civilian aircraft.     – With Michelle Zoleta