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Families of missing Pinoys in Myanmar quake hold on to hope
Families of Filipinos missing after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar are clinging to hope, praying that their loved ones will be found safe.
Among the missing are three overseas Filipino workers who were inside a residential building that collapsed during the quake.
Two of them, Alexis Gale and Edsil Jess Adalid, a married couple, were reportedly living on the ninth floor of the now-destroyed 12-story Sky Villa Condominium in Mandalay, near the quake's epicenter.
Filipino searchers discovered a brown jacket among the rubble, which they believe belonged to Alexis.
“We wanted to ask everybody who can see this video to keep praying that we will be able to receive a miracle for Alex and Edsil, that they are found or that they will be found alive,” Alexis’ sister, Veronica May Concepcion, said in Jonathan Andal's Sunday 24 Oras Weekend report.
Edsil’s mother, Hermosa Adalid, has been lighting candles in prayer, hoping for her son and daughter-in-law’s survival.
(We lit candles, hoping for a miracle, that they’re still inside, that they’re still alive. I can’t accept it yet, that they’re gone.)
“Panganay namin ‘yun na anak eh. Ang bait niya, very talented ‘yun, pero kung ano man ang mangyari, Panginoon na lang ang bahala. Nangangarap kami na buhay pa, hindi kami susuko sa pag-asa na buhay pa sila,” she added.
(He’s our eldest. He was kind and very talented. But whatever happens, we leave it to God. We still dream that they’re alive. We won’t give up hope.)
Francis Aragon, another Filipino, was living on the sixth floor of the same building and remains unaccounted for.
“Hindi po namin alam kung nasaan siya, kung nakalabas ba siya ng condo or nandoon pa rin siya, trapped, so wala akong idea. Ang gusto ko lang talaga is mahanap siya, makita siya as soon as possible,” his wife, Mae Kathleen Aragon, said.
(We don’t know where he is—whether he managed to get out or if he’s still trapped inside. I just want him to be found, to see him as soon as possible.)
The earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday, with its epicenter about 17.2 kilometers from Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, home to around 1.5 million people.
As of Sunday, the death toll had surpassed 1,600, according to a Reuters report.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs reported that four Filipinos—working as teachers or office workers—remain missing.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has expressed condolences to Myanmar and is preparing to send humanitarian aid. A total of 114 personnel are set to be deployed on April 1, with the families of the missing Filipinos hoping they can accompany the mission. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA Integrated News
