No Pinoys hurt in Ukraine unrest – DFA

Filipinos concerned about the safety of their countrymen in protest-torn Ukraine need not worry, for migrant workers are far away from the center of protests.

"There are no reports of Filipinos encountering problems in connection with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine," said Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez on Friday.

In a text message to GMA News Online, Hernandez said the Philippine Honorary Consul in Kiev has yet to hear from the 38 Filipino workers currently working in the city.

He noted that none of them live near the city proper, the center of the protest activities.

There were 76 Filipinos in Ukraine as of December 2012, according to the stock estimate by the Commission on Overseas Filipinos.

Sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych's rejection of a pact with the European Union, protestors took to the streets to fight against their president. Instead of firing at them with rubber bullets, Ukranian police fired live rounds into protestors, killing hundreds in the span of three months.

Pressure from the international community and the opposition forced Yanukovych to bow down to demands of holding early elections. However, protestors were not contented with the development, with some claiming the violence can only truly end with the "physical destruction of the president." — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News