DFA: 70 Pinoys from Haiti to arrive Fri to Sat in 3 batches

A total of 70 Filipinos from earthquake-ravaged Haiti are due to arrive this weekend in three batches, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said the first batch with 16 Filipinos will leave the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, while the second and third batches will leave on Thursday. “Sila ay darating sa Pilipinas mga Friday or Saturday this week (They will arrive in the country Friday or Saturday this week)," Malaya said in an interview on dzBB radio. Malaya said the first batch of 16 will leave the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, while the second batch of 33 and the third with 21 will leave on Thursday. Last Monday, DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo convened the Haiti Earthquake Crisis Management Team to expedite assistance to Haitians and the Filipino community there. Present at the meeting were acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman, Defense Undersecretary Antonio Santos, DFA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Ruel Lucentales, Health Director Carmencita Banatin and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Director Albert Valenciano. Flight plan As agreed in the the meeting, all 70 repatriates will be transported by bus for the seven-hour ride to Santo Domingo in nearby Dominican Republic. They will fly out of the Santiago International Airport in Santo Domingo in three batches. The first batch will fly to Los Angeles via Miami, and from there take a Philippine Airlines flight to Manila. The second batch of 33 will leave on January 28, flying straight to Los Angeles; and a third batch of 21 leaves for Los Angeles via Miami. The repatriation expenses are being shouldered by the DFA and the DOLE. Earlier, a task force headed by Philippine Ambassador to Cuba Macarthur Corsino confirmed that 217 Filipino community members in Haiti were safe. "The task force must ensure a full accounting of the Filipinos in Haiti, check their conditions and ascertain whether they wish to be repatriated to the Philippines," Romulo instructed. Romulo and other officials also reviewed the other actions being undertaken by the government in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Such actions include the immediate creation and dispatch to Port-au-Prince of a Philippine Task Force to look after the welfare of the Filipino community members, the extension of US$50,000 humanitarian assistance to the Government of Haiti in response to the appeal made by the United Nations, as well as the deployment of a Health Department-led medical team which leaves for Port-au-Prince Tuesday night. The 21-member medical team will bring 190 boxes of medicines and supplies worth P7 million. Meanwhile, Ambassador Corsino reported that efforts are continuing to locate Mary Grace Fabian and Geraldine Lalican who remain missing along with other Haitians and foreign nationals in the Caribbean Supermarket area in Port-au-Prince. The task force said a rescue team with heavy equipment is continuing the search and rescue operations in the supermarket area, which was once the biggest supermarket in Port-au-Prince and patronized by expatriates. It said Filipino peacekeepers continue to help secure the area. Earlier, at the request of the Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent, a 40-member US rescue team was dispatched to the area and had searched for possible survivors. - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV