114 Pinoys in evacuation centers in L’Aquila
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 04/08/2009 1:45 AM
Printer-friendly version | 
Send to friend | 
Share your views
114 Filipinos were found to have been affected by a team from the Philippine Embassy in Rome after the deadly earthquake destroyed their homes in L’Aquila in Abruzzo in Italy.
A team from the Philippine Embassy was dispatched to provide assistance to Filipinos in L’Aquila who were affected by the powerful earthquake which hit Italy on Monday.
The RP embassy in Rome said it has sent a team composed of Labor Attaché Manuel Roldan and Welfare Officer Andelyn Gregorio to the earthquake-affected region of Abruzzo.
One Filipino was found to have suffered minor injuries. Jeffrey Pugal, a construction worker, suffered minor injuries on his chin and legs but was found to be already doing well. He was with his wife and child at an evacuation center.
A report said Pugal was injured as he protected his son as the ceiling in their house collapsed.
The affected Filipinos were in two evacuation centers: in Campo Sportivo which is a sports complex and in Centro Collela.
Abruzzo local officials have already provided the Filipinos with food, tents and other relief items.
They were found, however, to be needing other items so a team form the Philippine Overseas Labor Office - Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) brought other relief items such as diapers for babies and other canned goods.
Lost documents
A big problem among the affected Filipinos however were the documents they lost such as their passports which also contained their visas to Italy. They were requesting Philippine officials to have their passports replaced free.
Aside from their lost documents, the affected Filipinos expressed worry that they would no longer have jobs since their employers were also affected by the earthquake.
The Filipino evacuees also called on the POLO-OWWA and Filipino communities in Italy for additional assistance.
Consul Emmanuel Fernandez of the Philippine Embassy in Rome had said there are at least 129 Filipinos living in the city of L'Aquila, which was struck by a 6.3 earthquake, and a total of 330 Filipinos are living in central Italy.
"They are in need of food. Local authorities are taking good care of them," he said.
The death toll from the devastating earthquake in central Italy has risen to 207 on Tuesday even as aftershocks hampered the race to dig possible survivors out of the debris.
Rescuers worked under floodlights through the night and thousands of people whose homes were wrecked sheltered in tents and cars.
"The hope of finding anyone under the rubble now is very small," said a civil protection agency official at a camp set up outside L'Aquila, the historic mountain city shattered by the quake.
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said 207 people were now confirmed as dead in the worst quake to strike Italy in 30 years. Of some 1,500 people injured, about 100 were in serious condition.
The new aftershocks struck fear into people, with residents running out of tents screaming and crying after a particularly strong tremor. Buildings shook and masonry fell onto the streets but no new injuries were reported.
"We advise people not to go back into their homes," Berlusconi told a news conference in L'Aquila, adding that rescue efforts to find people still alive will go on for at least two more days.
An aftershock on Tuesday which hit at about 11:26 a.m. (0926 GMT) and registered magnitude 4.7, was felt as far away as Rome, where furniture swayed on the upper floors of buildings.
The estimated number of homeless was revised to 17,000 from a previous 50,000 and the number of missing was under 50. With reports from Jocelyn Cruz and Armand Noma, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau and Reuters
