MANILA, Philippines – The body of the last missing Filipino peacekeeper in Haiti has been found, the Philippine military said on Thursday, bringing the total Philippine fatalities in the devastating earthquake that hit the country last week to 4.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the body of Air Force Sgt. Janice Arocena was pulled from under the Hotel Christopher at 1:40 p.m. Wednesday (Manila time).

Brawner said the military relayed the sad news to Arocena’s family Wednesday night.

Arocena is the 4th Filipino fatality in the Caribbean nation which was hit by a devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake on January 12.    

The bodies of her fellow peacekeepers, Army Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez and Navy Petty Officer 3 Pearlie Panangui, and United Nations staff member Jerome Yap were recovered from the same collapsed hotel.

The Hotel Christopher served as the headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Port-au-Prince.

Two other Filipinos, Geraldine “Maggie” Lalican and Grace Fabian, were still trapped under the collapsed Caribbean supermarket in Haiti's capital.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had announced that 173 overseas Filipino workers have been confirmed safe. It also said that there are at least 290 Filipino community members in Haiti.

The number does not include the 172 members of the Philippine peacekeeping force.

Rescue ops at supermarket stopped?

Brawner, meanwhile, admitted that the Philippine military has received a report that the search and rescue operations at the collapsed Caribbean supermarket have been halted.

"We are trying to verify that information. We also received the same information," the military spokesperson said.

He assured the families of Lalican and Fabian that Filipino peacekeepers involved in the search and rescue operations "will not rest until they see the two other Filipinos trapped at the Caribbean supermarket."

Meanwhile, Brawner said the Philippine government is now negotiating for the repatriation of the bodies of the Yap and the 3 peacekeepers.

He said they are asking the United Nations to have some of their helicopters take the bodies out of Haiti. He said they are looking at several countries, including Cuba or the United States, where the bodies could be transported.

Brawner, meanwhile, admitted that the repatriation might take some time because there were still no incoming commercial flights to Port-au-Prince. - With a report from ANC