100 Filipinos in district of quake-hit Haiti found safe - DFA

MANILA, Philippines - 100 Filipino civilians in a district of earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince, Haiti have been accounted for and found to be in safe physical condition, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said Sunday.

A DFA statement issued Sunday cited a report by Lt. Col. Lope Dagoy, 10th Philippine Contingent commander in Haiti which said that an initial census was conducted to determine the current locations and conditions of Filipinos in the Delmas districts.

The statement said “some 100 Filipinos were identified, accounted for and found to be in safe physical condition” including 2 religious nuns with the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (ICM Sisters) of Haiti.

The DFA said Delmas is a district in Ouest Department of Port-au-Prince where a sizeable number of Filipinos reside. The list (see below) was reportedly drawn from 3 areas in the district - Delmas 31, Delmas 41 and Delmas 56.

A relief team composed of United Nations peacekeepers was sent to the area and were guided to and accompanied by Alan Martinez, treasurer of the Filipino community in Haiti, said the DFA in its statement.

The foreign affairs department said that members of the community in the area have been given some rice, sugar, oatmeal and coffee on Saturday.

The team was also able to reach Friday afternoon the group of Ms. Fely Tan (or Chan) and Henry Reobuya who reportedly earlier requested assistance due to peace and order concerns in their area.

The DFA said Philippine Honorary Consul in Haiti Fitzgerald Brandt is also helping coordinate efforts in responding to the need of Filipino community members.

A DFA official had earlier said that aside from 172 peacekeepers, there are 447 more Filipinos working in Haiti.

“Tappings”

Meanwhile, the DFA said rescue efforts for 2 Filipinos, Grace Fabian and Geraldine Lalican, trapped under the collapsed Caribbean Supermarket are still ongoing.

A 40-person US rescue team is reportedly at the collapsed four-storey market and is helping in search and rescue efforts. The team was requested by the Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent through the US military attaché office in Haiti, said the DFA.

The DFA said that the rescue team leader informed the Philippine contingent that “they heard tappings and other indications of life among the rubbles.”

Extensive efforts are still ongoing, said the DFA, to rescue other officials, personnel and affiliated individuals who are still unaccounted including Filipino United Nations peacekeepers Army Sergeant Eustacio Bermudez, Air Force Sergeant Janice Arocena and Navy Petty Officer 3 Pearlie Panagui and Filipino UN civilian staff member Jerome Yap.

DFA list of Filipino community members in the Delmar district who were found to be in good health and safe condition are:

1. Mariflor Tuibeo
2. Nelson Lardizabal
3. Jocelyn Ortiz
4. Paul William Usana
5. Ramil Macalino
6. Melanie M Villamin
7. Frank Repizo
8. Maria Lucia Repizo
9. Kelly May Repizo
10. Kyle Kennette Repizo
11. Brenda Tambo
12. Dennis Tapat
13. Jonathan Villa
14. Lelaine M Villa
15. Jonna Leigh Villa
16. John Lloyo Villa
17. Moreto Casuyon
18. Adelina Manalansang
19. Berwyn Manalansang
20. Danica Manalansang
21. Wendyl Manalansang
22. Elina A Felipe
23. Johnny J Cabe
24. Gil Meru
25. Patrick Gecangao
26. Joel Bristol
27. Dominador Tiru
28. Nelson Blanco
29. Zosimo Melo
30. Andy Frias
31. Albino Villalba
32. Joselito Maniulit
33. Dante Rebanal
34. Arnel Cariaga
35. Ruben Martinez
36. Vener Maning
37. Roberto Cunanan
38. Arnel Barrera
39. Christian De Roxas
40. Rickson Dapasin
41. Freddie De Roxas
42. Sonny Maning
43. Sandy Maning
44. Ronil Maning
45. Renato Pera
46. Rene Jordan
47. Rey Jordan
48. Joseph Alama
49. Zarina Flor
50. Moises (Surname Not Given In DFA report]
51. Angelita Aguinaldo
52. Ryza Bagadiong
53. Joan Sespene
54. Corazon Obnial
55. Renato Bagadiong
56. Renelyn De Vera
57. Ferdinand De Vera
58. Rizalino Ramirez
59. Allzana Ramirez
60. Lourdes Cabalhin
61. Manolito Cabalhin
62. Dennis Cabalhin
63. Aurora Aguinaldo Mehlbaum
64. Elenita Granada
65. Ma Sanrio Granada
66. Juliane Del Rosario
67. Joaquin Tena
68. Oscar Mendoza
69. Mary Grace Joy Genaro
70. Richard Pasahol
71. Israel Pasahol
72. Lilibeth Mendoza
73. Pricilla Aguinaldo
74. Leah Tabigay
75. Rosalyn Fabian
76. Sherwin Magno
77. Fe Labalando
78. Remy Villero
79. Aries Mendoza
80. Agripino Cornejo
81. Joven Cruz
82. Boy Duran
83. Philip Benitez
84. Maricel Benitez
85. Jetro Benitez
86. Jana Benitez
87. Lily Sonico
88. Aurora Fernandez
89. Frankie Bagadiong
90. Dolor Bagadiong
91. Val Bagadiong
92. Ariel Bagadiong
93. Shiela Dubios
94. Henry Reobuya
95. Lucy Trinidad
96. Fely Tan
97. Jun Bacurin
98. Donna Bacurin
99. Sister Hermie
100. Sister Inden

16 dead in Pakistan hotel blast, Taliban blamed

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - – Pakistani police have pulled bodies from the charred rubble of a luxury hotel in northwest Peshawar after a suicide car bomb killed 16 people in the city troubled by Taliban violence.

A top provincial official said the massive blast at the Pearl Continental Hotel late Tuesday was likely the latest in a string of revenge attacks by Islamist militants over a six-week offensive against them in the northwest.

Police hunting for the dead moved from room to room in the five-star hotel on Wednesday, large parts of which were reduced to rubble when at least two attackers shot security guards and then slammed an explosives-laden car into the building.

Five more bodies were pulled from the dust and rubble early Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 16, Peshawar police chief Sefwat Ghayur said, with more victims feared trapped under the debris.

"The blast is a reaction to the army offensive in Swat and Malakand. The possibility of this type of terrorist attack cannot be ruled out in future," North West Frontier Province information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said.

Police official Abdul Ghafoor Afridi told AFP that 57 people were injured, including some foreigners who have been taken from Peshawar, the provincial capital, to Islamabad for treatment.

"The number of casualties could rise as we fear that some people are still trapped under the debris," Afridi said.

"One portion of the hotel was totally destroyed. Three people including a manager of the hotel are missing and we fear they are under the debris."

An AFP reporter at the scene saw rescue workers ferrying out the body of a badly-disfigured hotel worker as his colleagues looked on in tears.

The United Nations said the dead included two of their employees -- Serbian national Aleksandar Vorkapic, who worked for the refugee agency UNHCR, and Perseveranda So of the Philippines who worked for children's agency UNICEF.

Dozens of aid workers were staying at the opulent hotel before heading out to refugee camps in North West Frontier Province, where Pakistan launched military action in three districts on April 26 to try to crush Taliban rebels.

The air and ground assault in Swat, Lower Dir and Buner has sent up to tw o million people fleeing their homes.

Tuesday's bombing was the seventh deadly blast in Peshawar in a month. More than 155 people have been killed in similar attacks across Pakistan since the anti-Taliban military offensive began.

Early reports suggest at least two men dressed as security guards shot their way through a security barrier and into the hotel compound, where they managed to detonate about 500 kilogrammes of explosives packed in a pick-up truck.

"It was such a huge and powerful blast that the engine flew up to the fourth floor of the hotel," police official Shafiullah Khan told AFP.

In late May, 24 people were killed in a similar gun and suicide car bomb attack on a police building in eastern Lahore -- an attack claimed by Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), which warned of more "massive attacks."

No group has yet claimed responsibility for Tuesday's hotel blast, and Hussain said a committee had been set up to investigate.

"Police experts are collecting evidence from the spot and debris of the hotel. They have also recorded statements from the hotel employees and those present at the scene," he told AFP.

"We have already alerted all the security and law enforcement agencies and we have declared a high alert in Peshawar and other cities."

The current campaign centred on Swat was launched when Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad, flouting a deal to put three million people under sharia law in exchange for peace.

The offensive has the backing of the United States and enjoys broad popular support among Pakistanis exasperated by worsening Taliban-linked attacks, which have killed more than 1,960 people since July 2007.