75 Filipinos in quake-hit Chile safe — DFA

The 75 documented Filipinos residing or working in Chile have been accounted for and reported safe, the spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Sunday. “So far, they do not have any reports of any Filipinos who have been affected or hurt during the earthquake… They have been able to account for almost all of the Filipinos," DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya told ANC in an interview on Sunday afternoon, citing information from the Philippine embassy in Chile. He added that a worker in the embassy had only injured his ankle at the height of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted the South American country early Saturday morning. Contrary to earlier reports that there were about 89 Filipinos in Chile, Malaya said there were only 75 Filipinos serving as missionaries, engineers and businessmen or were spouses of Chile nationals. Malaya also quoted Philippine Ambassador to Argentina Rey Carandang as saying that Filipinos in Argentina, located east of Chile, “were fine." As of Sunday noon, international media pegged the quake’s death toll to about 214. — Sophia Regina M. Dedace/NPA, GMANews.TV