DFA assures assistance will be given to all Filipinos in quake-hit Türkiye, Syria
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs assured that the country’s foreign service posts in Türkiye and Syria are monitoring the situation of Filipino nationals there following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake earlier this week.
“They will actually do what needs to be done and bring what needs to be brought to actually be able to address the needs that have been raised by different groups,” Amb. Ma. Teresita Daza, DFA spokesperson, told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday.
However, the department said that they are unsure of when the foreign service posts may be able to send help to Filipinos there as they have to sort out logistics and other concerns with the host governments first.
The Philippine Embassy in Ankara previously identified 248 Filipinos who were affected by the Türkiye quake, while the Philippine Embassy in Damascus said 60 Filipinos in Syria were also hit.
There were two Türkiye-based Filipinos left injured by the earthquake, but the embassy there said they are “okay as of now.”
“We’ve been receiving, Ankara PE has been receiving a lot of reports – confirmed and unconfirmed – and they will have to use that as a basis in terms of what action needs to be taken,” Daza said.
Back home, the DFA will then send help through its Assistance to Nationals fund in the Philippines. Daza said they have received requests for blankets and warm clothing, on top of other essentials.
The death toll from a massive earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria rose to more than 8,700 on Wednesday, official data showed, with rescue workers racing to reach trapped survivors.
Officials and medics said 6,234 people had died in Türkiye and 2,470 in Syria, bringing the total to 8,704.
The Philippines will send an 85-member team to Türkiye to aid in search and rescue operations and to help humanitarian assistance programs there. The team will be composed of personnel from the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), the Department of Health, the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, and the Metro Manila Development Authority.
"Currently, the OCD is coordinating with concerned agencies and mustering available manpower and equipment for possible deployment responding to the request of Türkiye," the civil defense office said in a statement Monday.
Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, the administrator of civil defense, said the agency is prepared to extend necessary assistance in coordination with the risk reduction council.
The Department of Migrant Workers similarly said it will assist the team in order to reach overseas Filipino workers in the quake-hit areas.
“I have instructed the DMW to share information with the AFP rescue mission bound for Türkiye regarding the names of overseas workers deployed to the said country. We will also open a 24/7 hotline to respond to calls for assistance including queries from anxious families," Migrant Workers Secretary Susan "Toots" Ople said in a statement Wednesday.
"The nearest Migrant Workers Office is in southern Lebanon, and a team from that office will be heading for Türkiye soon."
– with reports from Agence France-Presse and The Philippine STAR (newspaper) / Michael Punongbayan and Helen Flores
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