Body of UN Pinoy worker in Haiti retrieved from rubble

The body of a United Nations Filipino officer was recovered early Monday evening, buried beneath the rubble of a hotel in Haiti following a magnitude-7 earthquake that hit the Caribbean nation last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. Jerome Yap, executive assistant to the deputy head of the UN mission in Haiti, was the first confirmed Filipino death in Haiti.

Interviewed on GMA News' Unang Balita, DFA spokesman Ed Malaya said the remains of Yap were retrieved at 6:15 p.m. on Monday, Philippine time. Yap's body was recovered from the site of Christopher Hotel, a few hours after other remains were found, including those of mission head Hedi Annabi, deputy Luis Tacosta and Chinese Ambassador to Haiti Shulin Wang. "Yung kanyang kapatid sa New York ay nakikipag-ugnayan na din sa UN secretary tungkol sa arrangements sa kanyang labi (His sibling in New York is also in touch with the UN secretary about arrangements for his remains)," Malaya said. Yap's family in Pampanga had been contacted, and arrangements were being made on what to do with the body, he added. "His family will decide on whether his body should be sent home or not," Malaya said in Filipino. The family would be receiving retirement benefits, he added. Five Filipinos remained missing — Petty Officer 3 Pearly Panangui, Sergeant Janice Arocena and Sergeant Eustacio Bermudez, all members of the RP peacekeeping force in Haiti; and Grace Fabian and Geraldine Lalican, who both worked at the Carribean Supermarket. Malaya added that Philippine Ambassador to Havana Macarthur F. Corsino arrived in Haiti capital Port-Au-Prince on Monday to help in relief and search efforts for missing Filipinos. — Carmela Lapeña/LBG/RSJ/NPA, GMANews.TV