DFA: 78 Filipinos remain in Ankara shelter after Turkey quake

A total of 78 Filipinos are still staying at an Ankara shelter, and more are expected to return home after being affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday.

“Right now, meron pang 78 na natitira sa shelter natin. May isang shelter para sa mga OFWs. na ni-rescue natin or lumikas galing sa kanilang earthquake-affected areas,” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said at a televised public briefing.
 
(Right now, there are still 78 Filipinos in our shelter. We have a shelter for the OFWs who we rescued or evacuated from earthquake-affected areas.) 
 
De Vega also said that 49 Filipinos have returned to the Philippines in two batches.
 
Some of them have already been fetched by their families, while others are still at the OWWA center waiting to be transported to their respective provinces.
 
A third batch of about 20 Filipinos is expected to be repatriated by the end of the month.

He said that for Filipinos who choose to remain in Turkey, the Turkish government is committed to providing financial and housing support.
 
An 82-man Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) was earlier sent to Turkey to help in the rescue and retrieval operations following the February 6 earthquake. They returned to the Philippines on February 28 after completing their mission. — VBL, GMA Integrated News