THE Philippine Embassy team continues its efforts to locate four missing Filipino teachers who remain unaccounted for after a strong earthquake struck Myanmar last week.
The team arrived from the Philippine Embassy in Mandalay and immediately began searching hospitals where survivors and victims of the earthquake were taken.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) remains hopeful that the four teachers will be found alive.
The embassy believes the teachers were inside the Sky Villa building in Mandalay when the earthquake struck.
“We’re doing everything we can,” said Undersecretary Ed De Vega from the DFA’s Office of Migration Affairs.
“Unfortunately, [while] hope remains, the bodies that have been discovered are in such advanced decomposition that they had to be cremated immediately. We’re holding onto the hope that our fellow citizens are not among them or that they are still alive,” he added.
De Vega further stated: “We can’t definitively say they are under the rubble, but we’re exploring all possibilities, including that possibility.”
While the events are horrifying, there is still hope based on past rescue missions.
DFA Assistant Secretary Robert Ferrer recalled survivors found weeks after the 1990 Baguio earthquake.
“The encouraging news from the Pines Hotel was that two weeks later, they discovered survivors in the debris. We’re praying for a similar outcome here,” Ferrer said.
To expedite the search for the missing teachers, the DFA provided the searchers with identification information of the teachers, given by their families in the Philippines.
“Families have also shared distinguishing marks to aid our team on the ground in verifying and ensuring that all possible avenues are explored,” said DFA Director Catherine Alpay.
Meanwhile, an emergency response team has been deployed and is setting up operations in one of the hardest-hit areas of Myanmar. While the families of the missing teachers anxiously await news, the team is currently in Naypyidaw, organized by the local government.
“The decision about where our contingent will work isn’t up to us; it’s dependent on the host government. Right now, I believe the first group has been sent to Naypyidaw,” said Senior Special Assistant Winston Dean Almeda.
The embassy has interviewed 11 Filipinos who were rescued from Sky Villa.
“These individuals have been very helpful to our embassy team in identifying their friends,” Alpay said.
As the situation progresses, plans are underway to relocate the rescued Filipinos from Mandalay to Yangon, especially since various structures in Mandalay, including schools, are considered unsafe.
“The embassy has informed us that schools are preparing for their transfer, as the buildings in Mandalay are not secure,” Alpay confirmed.
Meanwhile, some Filipinos in Myanmar have expressed their desire to return to the Philippines, and the Philippine Embassy in Myanmar, together with the Philippine Embassy in Thailand, is currently expediting this process.
