PH humanitarian team to prioritize Filipinos in Myanmar earthquake

A Filipino teacher in Mandalay, Myanmar, has requested the Philippine humanitarian team to prioritize assisting Filipinos in the region following a magnitude 7.7 earthquake.

Four Filipino teachers are missing after their 12-story condominium in Mandalay collapsed, with two of them identified as a married couple.

A team from the Philippine Embassy has arrived in Mandalay and is actively searching hospitals for the missing teachers.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) remains hopeful that the four teachers will be found alive, despite the discovery of cremated bodies in advanced decomposition.

The DFA is exploring all possibilities, including the teachers being under the rubble or still alive, drawing hope from past rescue missions where survivors were found weeks after earthquakes.

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is coordinating with the DFA and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to locate the missing teachers.

A 92-member Philippine search and rescue team has been dispatched to Myanmar.

The DMW has committed to providing financial and other forms of assistance to the families of the missing teachers.