RP peacekeepers trapped inside Haiti buildings - AFP

(Updated 7:56 p.m.) Filipino peacekeepers were reportedly among those trapped inside establishments that were hit by a strong earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday (Wednesday in the Philippines). Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. told media on Wednesday that he received information from the wife of Col. Lope Dagoy, the commander of the 10th Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent in Haiti, that some Filipino police and military officers were trapped inside some establishments there, including Christopher Hotel at 11 Rue Theoowle, Bourdon in Port-au-Prince. "Dagoy called through his wife and informed us that some of the members of our peacekeeping contingent have been trapped inside some of the buildings," Brawner said. Using a satellite phone, Dagoy called his wife from Haiti, saying he was safe but some of his colleagues were trapped at the Christopher Hotel. “He (Dagoy) said that some our members are trapped in the building somewhere in the center of the Port Au Prince. He also said that majority of the Filipino contingents living in the main building of the Philippine company headquarters were already evacuated," Brawner said later in the day during a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. Filipino workers The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, instructed the Philippine Mission in New York and the Philippine Embassy in Havana, Cuba, to check on the conditions of the members of the Filipino community in Haiti. The Philippine Mission in New York will coordinate with the United Nations on the extension of assistance to them, as well as to the Haiti government and people, the DFA said in a statement. There are some 447 Filipinos working in the garments, telecommunication and power sectors in the country, mostly in middle and upper management levels. There are also Filipino nuns and priests in Haiti. No casualties Brawner said he had not received report of any casualties involving Filipinos. "(A)s of now, they have not reported any casualties yet...the good thing is that according to Col. Dagoy, none of our Filipino peacekeepers have been harmed by this earthquake." This was confirmed by Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina who talked on the phone to PNP contingent commander Supt. Rodolfo Fuentes who is in Haiti. “No PNP personnel so far is injured, and they are presently based at the logistical base of the United Nations (in Haiti). Continuous pa rin po ang kanilang accounting ng mga tao from the PNP contingent in far flung areas of Haiti (The accounting of persons is continuous)," Espina said.
View Bourdon, Port Au Prince in a larger map Philippine contingent to Haiti The PNP contingent in Haiti is composed of five police officers and 10 policeman-commissioned officers, according to Espina. There are 157 officers and enlisted personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Haiti, according to DFA spokesman Ed Malaya. Espina said he did not have updates on the condition of the AFP personnel reportedly trapped at the Christopher Hotel. The PNP spokesman assured that they will “readily provide support and all the help they could" in ensuring the safety of the Filipino contingency in the said country. Philippine authorities are having difficulty communicating with Filipinos in Haiti. Communication lines were severely damaged in the Caribbean country after a strong earthquake hit the nation on Tuesday. Magnitude 7 The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince at a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers), according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The tremor was the largest to hit the Caribbean nation in more than 200 years, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help and heavily damaging other buildings, Associated Press said. USGS geophysicist Kristin Marano called it the strongest earthquake since 1770 in what is now Haiti. In 1946, a magnitude-8.1 quake struck the Dominican Republic and also shook Haiti, producing a tsunami that killed 1,790 people. - ARCS/TJD/KBK, GMANews.TV