At least 100 Filipinos in Haiti's Delmas district have been found to be safe, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Sunday. The initial census of Filipinos in Delmas district had been done to determine the Filipinos' condition, the department said quoting Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, 10th Philippine Contingent commander, as saying. Delmas is a district in the Ouest Department of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, where a sizeable number of Filipinos reside. The list was drawn from three areas — Delmas 31, Delmas 41 and Delmas 56. “Some 100 Filipinos were identified, accounted for, and found to be safe. These include two religious nuns with the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister of Haiti,” the department said in a statement posted on its Website. Of the recorded 462 Filipinos in Haiti, 290 are civilians and 172 are peacekeepers. There are some Filipino priests and nuns as well. The department did not say what happened to the Filipinos not residing in Delmas, but so far only six have been reported trapped in the rubbles of a hotel and a supermarket. Trapped at the Christopher Hotel are Army Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez, Air Force Sgt. Janice Arocena, Navy Petty Officer Pearlie Panangui and Jerome Yap, an administrative officer of the UN which holds offices at the hotel. Two civilians – Geraldine Calican and Grace Fabian – were trapped at the collapsed Caribbean Supermarket also in Port-au-Prince. Fabian was earlier reported to have been rescued, but the military later said there was an error in the report. Filipinos working in Haiti are in middle-to-upper-level management positions in the garment, telecommunication and power generation sectors. “Right now, massive retrieval and rescue operations are ongoing. The three peacekeepers and one UN worker, as well as two Filipinas who worked at the Caribbean Supermarket have not been rescued,” Brawner told dzBB radio in Filipino. “A 40-person rescue team from the United States is at the collapsed four-storey Caribbean Supermarket and is helping in search and rescue efforts,” the DFA said. The leader of the rescue team informed the Philippine contingent that they heard tappings and other indications of life among the rubble. The Armed Forces of the Philippines remained hopeful they are still alive and will be rescued soon.
