Nearly 100 Filipinos in Mandalay, Myanmar, will be transferred to Yangon this week as the city remains unsafe following last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.
Of the 171 Filipinos in Mandalay, 97 requested relocation, while 120 have been confirmed safe. Four remain missing, and the rest have yet to respond to DFA messages, said DFA Director Catherine Alpay.
The Philippine Embassy is arranging transport for evacuees, with some staff staying in tents as they search for the missing. DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega noted that while some Filipinos want to travel to Mandalay to assist in the search, Myanmar’s authorities may not allow non-embassy personnel into affected areas.
Myanmar hosts nearly 1,000 Filipinos, with most residing in Yangon, which was unaffected by the quake. So far, only one Filipino has requested repatriation, the DFA said.
The second batch of the Philippine contingent, tasked with providing disaster response and humanitarian assistance to earthquake-hit Myanmar, meanwhile departed the country on Wednesday morning, as confirmed by the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
According to PAF spokesperson Colonel Ma. Consuelo Castillo, a C-130 aircraft carrying 33 members of the contingent took off from Villamor Air Base in Pasay City around 6 a.m.
This follows the arrival of the first batch, which consisted of 58 personnel, in Myanmar on Tuesday.
The contingent, led by Lieutenant Colonel Erwen S. Diploma, includes urban search and rescue teams from the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, Bureau of Fire Protection, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Representatives from the private sector, EDC and APEX Mining, are also part of the mission.
Additionally, the contingent includes a medical assistance team from the Department of Health (DOH) and coordinators from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
