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PH Embassy still assessing situation of Pinoys affected by LA wildfires
The Philippine Embassy in the United States is still assessing the situation of Filipinos affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles, California, according to an envoy on Monday.
“Ang sinasabi sa atin ng ating Konsulado, merong mga Pilipinong affected by the Palisades Fire. A total of about 150,000 homes have been destroyed. Marami diyan I'm sure [are] Filipino-Americans,” Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez told Unang Balita in an interview.
(Our Consulate told us that there are Filipinos affected by the Palisades fire. A total of about 150,000 homes have been destroyed. I’m sure many of them are Filipino-Americans.)
“But we're still assessing the situation. At ang ating Konsulado diyan sa Los Angeles ay coordinating with the local authorities kung sinumang mga Filipinos, most especially mga Filipino workers natin, ang apektado diyan sa Los Angeles fire," he added.
(But we're still assessing the situation. And our Consulate in Los Angeles is coordinating with the local authorities if any Filipinos, most especially our Filipino workers, were affected by the Los Angeles fire.)
President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. earlier tasked concerned authorities to identify Filipinos who are in need and affected by the massive wildfires that hit the southern portion of California.
The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles announced that it would conduct emergency operations on the last two Saturdays of January to help Filipinos who lost their identification and travel documents due to the massive wildfires in southern California.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Saturday said at least 150 Filipinos were affected by the massive wildfires.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the 150 Filipinos were getting aid through the Philippine Consulate in LA, with the support of the department's Migrant Workers Office (MWO) there.
Cacdac said these Filipinos are permanent residents or green card holders in Los Angeles and do not fall under the jurisdiction of the DMW.
"We are under a one-country team approach sa Konsulado natin sa LA (We are under a one-country team approach with our Consulate in LA), and we fully support the efforts of our Consul General there, and our Migrant Workers Office is providing support to relief operations formed by the Consulate," Cacdac said.
US authorities last week reported that over 6.5 million people were under critical fire threat as the wildfire death toll reached 25.
The fires have destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures, and forced almost 200,000 individuals from their homes. —KG, GMA Integrated News
