THE remains of one of two Filipina fatalities in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey on February 5 arrived in Manila last night.
The remains arrived at past 7 p.m. on board a Turkish Airlines flight, and met by officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs as well as family members.
On Tuesday, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Affairs Eduardo Jose de Vega said the other Filipina who died in the earthquake was already buried in Turkey as decided by her Turkish husband.
The DFA has withheld the names of the Filipino fatalities as their respective families have requested privacy.
There are at least 4,000 Filipinos living and working in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul and the northwest part of the country.
Meanwhile, Speaker Martin Romualdez said he plans to summon all disaster agencies and first responder units to find out if government has an operational plan should a strong earthquake hit the country.
“Do we have enough equipment and manpower? The first 24 hours is very critical. Because if we don’t have (equipment and manpower), then let’s prepare and anticipate,” he said.
“We want to find out if we are really ready and what the public needs to do.”
Romualdez noted that when super typhoon “Yolanda” hit the country in 2013, first-responders also became victims.
“Who will replace them when that happens? Do we have enough equipment to dig through the rubble? Do we have enough food packs for the thousands who will be affected by this earthquake? We really have to be ready from rescue to medical attention and food distribution,” he said.
Romualdez said there is also a need to evaluate the structural integrity of buildings and infrastructure.
Last Monday, Turkey Ambassador Niyazi Aykol went to Congress to accept Romualdez’ personal donation of $100,000 for the victims of the earthquake in the said country.
Aykol told Romualdez they had known for 20 years that a strong earthquake would hit but they never thought it would be that strong.
This prompted Romualdez to raise the need to know how strong an earthquake the National Capital Region (NCR) can handle and the number of projected casualties. — With Wendell Vigilia
