Some RP repatriates want to return to Haiti

Some of them nearly lost their lives in the cataclysmic earthquake that struck Haiti on January 13, but Filipinos set to return to the Philippines this week are intent on going back to the ravaged Carribean country once it has recovered from the tragedy. A total of 70 Filipinos, some overseas workers and others long-time residents, are set to go home to the Philippines early Friday and Saturday. But some of them have no plans of staying permanently in their home country as they want to eventually return to their jobs in Haiti, GMA News’ Jiggy Manicad reported from the Dominican Republic. One of them is "Aurora" (not her real name), who recounted her three-day ordeal amid the rubble of the Caribbean Supermarket. "Noong binabayo nila yung building para makagawa ng daan, nasa isip ko na noon na mamamatay na rin ako (When they were battering their way into the building to create a passage out, I thought I was going to die right then and there)" she said. Emmanuel Perez, who was almost buried by a collapsing building, criticized the "substandard buildings" in the earthquake-torn country. "Iyon ang pinakamalaking kamalian ng Haiti. Gumagawa sila ng mga building na [hindi] tama (That's the biggest mistake in Haiti, buildings were built the wrong way)," said Perez, who has been working there as an electrician for six months. Even then, however, Aurora and Perez still plan to return to Haiti to work for a living, the television report said. They are among the Filipinos awaiting their return flights to the Philippines. The first batch will be arriving on Friday at 5:50 am, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Ed Malaya said in an interview on GMA News' early morning newscast, Unang Balita. 3 batches Malaya said the first batch of Filipinos is on their way to Miami, Florida in the United States, from which they will head to Los Angeles, California for their Manila flight. The second and third batches, with 33 and 21 Filipinos, respectively, will arrive in the country on Saturday morning. Malaya said that members of the Filipino community in Haiti are not only OFWs, but families having lived there for about 20 years. "Iyong composition ng ating repatriate, madami sa kanila ay women and children. Iyong mga kalalakihan ay nagdecide na maiwan sa Haiti dahil may mga property na hindi nila pwedeng maiwan (Majority of the repatriates are women and children. Many men decided to stay in Haiti because they have properties there that they can't leave behind)," said the DFA official. At the time of the killer quake, a total of 462 Filipinos were in Haiti—290 civilians and 172 military and police peacekeepers. Three Filipino peacekeepers were killed in the earthquake. Their remains were due to be brought to the Philippines Tuesday or Wednesday this week, but a military spokesman said Thursday that the transport of the bodies may be stalled as forensic experts from the United Nations want to make sure the recovered bodies are indeed those of the peacekeepers. More forensics needed "Ayon po sa head ng ating peacekeepers na si Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, iyong United Nations forensic expert ay gusto ng 100 percent match. Ang kailangan po nila ay iyong mga fingerprint at mga dental records po ng ating mga peacekeepers, at iyon po ay naipadala natin kahapon," military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said in an interview on Unang Balita. (According to Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, the head of our peacekeepers, the UN forensic expert wanted a 100-percent match. They need the fingerprints and dental records of our peacekeepers, and we sent all these yesterday.) Earlier, Brawner announced that the bodies of Navy Data Processor 3 Pearly Panangui, Army Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez, and Air Force Sgt. Janice Arocena, all members of the 10th Philippine peacekeeping contingent to Haiti, are to arrive in Manila on Tuesday or Wednesday. "Today, we're going to send some more documents para mapatunayan po na iyong mga katawan na nakuha natin ay sa mga peacekeepers po natin (so we have proof that the bodies we retrieved are really those of our peacekeepers) and then after that, doon pa po nila irerelease (and the bodies will be released after that)," he said. "That’s the only time we’re going to be able to bring them to the United States," Brawner added. From the US, the bodies will then be flown to Manila. Identification process Brawner admitted, however, that the identification process may take at least four days more, with the UN still in the process of identifying 63 other bodies of its peacekeepers. Two Filipinos, believed to be trapped inside the Caribbean Supermarket, remain unaccounted for. They are OFWs Grace Fabian and Geraldine Lalican. "Medyo nahihirapan po tayo dahil sirang-sira po itong Caribbean Supermarket (We're having a difficult time locating them because the Carribean Supermarket was completely destroyed)," Brawner said, assuring that the Filipino contingent in Haiti are doing their best to retrieve the remaining Filipinos from the rubble. - RSJ/JV, GMANews.TV