PHL trying to reach 30 Pinoy seafarers in Fukushima

Philippine efforts are underway to get in touch with at least 30 Filipino seafarers in Fukushima, a prefecture in Japan threatened by potential radiation from a failing nuclear plant. The efforts are also focused on the 4,500 Filipinos in Japan’s northeast region, including Sendai city, which was heavily affected by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami last Friday, March 11. Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez said a Philippine embassy team is now on its way to northeast Japan — one of the areas hardest hit by the quake and tsunami — to check on the Filipinos there. “Our embassy team will link up with them shortly," Lopez said of the 30 seafarers in a news release posted on the Department of Foreign Affairs website Sunday afternoon. He said the 30 were brought to Fukushima by their company after the quake, and are “safely housed in a hotel" and are “duly cared for." On the other hand, he said the embassy team is proceeding by land to northeast Japan, in a convoy with representatives from the Indonesian, Thai and Malaysian embassies. “We are sending a team there to contact local authorities and our own community leaders and to inquire if there are Filipino casualties," he said. He added Filipinos in Tokyo, Osaka and the western regions of Japan are relatively safe. Earlier, the Embassy issued an advisory to the Filipino community to take necessary precautions and report to the embassy or the Philippine consulates nearest them any incident of injuries or fatalities among Filipinos. It also reiterated the advice of Japanese authorities for them to proceed to city halls or fire stations in emergencies for immediate instructions and care. The DFA said subways and trains in Tokyo were back to normal operations since Saturday, while elevated highways were passable. While most communication services are still down, Internet services remain operational. Crisis management team In Manila, on the direction of DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario, the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs has activated a crisis management team for families who have Filipino relatives in Japan. Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. is leading the efforts in support of the embassy in Tokyo and the consulates in Japan. Philippine embassy officers and staff in Tokyo, as well as those in the Consulate General in Osaka under Consul General Maria Lourdes Lopez and the Honorary Consulates in Sapporo, Morioka, Nagoya and Naha, are reaching out to Filipino community leaders and members, as well as quickly responding to request for assistance or information. In Osaka, the Consulate General there reported that as of date there are no reports of any casualty or injury among Filipino nationals in the 28 prefectures under its jurisdiction. The Consulate covers Aichi, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Gifu, Hiroshima, Hyogo, Ishikawa, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Nara, Oita, Okayama, Osaka, Saga, Shiga, Shimane, Tokushima, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama and Yamaguchi. The Embassy and the Consulates are maintaining close contact with city and prefectural governments, and have full personnel complement in place to undertake needed actions. The Embassy hotline numbers are (00813) 5562-1570, (00813) 5562-1577 and (00813) 5562-1590. Its email address is emergency@philembassy.net. The consulates’ hotlines are as follows: (06) 6910-7881 for the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka, (011) 614-8090 for the Honorary Consulate in Sapporo, and (019) 629-9139 for the Honorary Consulate in Morioka. - KBK, GMA News