25 Filipinos Feared Dead

[george]

25 Filipinos feared dead

14 others missing, 4 injured in Thailand

IVY CATHERINE Tomenio, along with her Japanese husband and their three young children, left their hotel in Phuket, Thailand, that Sunday morning to see the island's famed beaches when the killer waves came.

The 32-year-old Ivy, from Borongan, Eastern Samar, and her family were never seen again but the hotel vehicle they took was found, wrecked and stripped of its parts.

A woman's body, which Filipino diplomats said resembled Ivy, was inside it.

The Samareña was among the 10 Filipinos listed as missing in the massive waves that ravaged coastlines in Asia and killed tens of thousands of people.

At press time, the death of a Filipino has been confirmed by Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Gilberto Asuque -- that of 19-year-old Sharleen May Tan. Asuque, however, did not give additional details about Tan.

Tan was earlier identified as the daughter of Rosemarie Phi King Ang-Tan, who was among the Filipinos brought to hospitals in Phuket for treatment of wounds sustained during the tsunami. Ang-Tan's husband, David, is also missing.

Also in the hospital were Marco Sangil, who was set to be repatriated to Manila; Margaret Ang Choi and Virginia Cruz (earlier identified as Vergini Cruz and Miss Virginia).

Sixteen other persons with Filipino-sounding names have been confirmed dead, the Department of Foreign Affairs said, based on lists given by the Thai Ministry of Interior. Four other Filipinos were injured.

The Agence France-Presse, quoting DFA officials, said up to 25 Filipinos were feared dead and 14 others missing from the giant waves that swamped southern Thailand and Indian Ocean countries.

There have been no reported Filipino casualties or disappearances, so far, in other tsunami-damaged nations like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and Maldives, the DFA said.

Ivy, her husband Masahiro Terasaka, 39, sons Mahito, 9, and Yukihito, 6, and daughter Mayumi, 3 months old, were believed to have been hit by the tsunami on their way to Khaolak Beach.

"The bodies of the four other family members, or that of the vehicle's driver, have not yet been found," Asuque said.

The Terasakas, who arrived in Phuket on Dec. 24, have been declared missing by the Japanese Embassy.

Positive identification

Their hotel vehicle, with the woman's body inside, was found on a road that runs from Phuket to Khaolak. Also inside was Masahiro's luggage.

Pending positive identification by her family, Ivy will remain on the missing list.

"Secretary Alberto Romulo today expressed his sadness and concern over reports that a Filipina and her entire Japanese family may have perished from the tsunami," Asuque said at a press briefing.

Between 70 and 120 Filipinos are based in Phuket, working as diving instructors, hotel staff and musicians.

Ivy's sister, Yvonne Tomenio-Catuday, was to fly to Singapore to meet with officials of Sumitomo Forestry, her brother-in-law's employer, and would later proceed to Phuket to help identify the body found in the wrecked vehicle.

The missing

Also listed as missing by the DFA were Sherlyn Tan, Alexander Latoza, Alma Gillado, Flordeliza (Dianne) Isla, Jerwin Sedillo, Joselito A. Balbutin, Marcial Ferre and Marian Pasag.

One of them was a seaman while the others were described as tourists and musicians.

Are they Filipinos?

Nine others -- Beverly Tan, Catherine Prieto, Celeste Panahon, Cherry Panahon, Erwin Raagas, Jovito Masaga, Lorena M. Burlaza, Pilar Prieto and Reginaldo Recibio -- survived the tsunami in the island resort.

They were either tourists or hotel staff, according to officials.

The Thai Ministry of the Interior has provided the DFA with a new list of eight fatalities whose names sounded Filipino to the Philippine Embassy in Thailand, bringing to 16 the number of such cases.

Documentation needed

The new list included the names Andees Barona, Mariana Barona, Eileen Chan, Giner Salello, Giovanni Cabrera, Ilse Panaino, Katrin Lorente and Maria Novello.

"Again, the DFA will be looking at its records to ascertain the nationalities of these Filipino-sounding names," Asuque said.

Officials stressed that it had not been verified if anybody on the earlier list of eight casualties with Filipino-sounding names was actually Filipino.

"We don't have any callers who identified that they are related to the eight," said Marianito Roque, head of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). "That means there's a high probability that they're not Filipino nationals. But we're still waiting for calls from the relatives."

The names on the first list were Barrera Juan (earlier identified as Barrera Jann), Carlos Barong (Curlos Barong), Sesilvia Bargoa, Flona Gallan, Feri Cornelia, Major Tomas, Mary Tanagtong and Sevrine Patruno (Sevrine Pairuno).

'Miraculous survival'

"We're now looking at authentication documents, and we hope we could find something there. Also, we're coordinating with [the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Immigration] to find out whether any of these names are in their records, thereby assisting us in establishing the nationalities of these Filipino-sounding names," Asuque said.

Two Filipinos -- Bacoleño musician Rolando del Castillo, 56, and co-worker Nenette Malinao, 38, of Cagayan de Oro City -- escaped death when waves hit their hotel in Maldives.

Del Castillo, a vocalist-sequencer at the Club Med in Maldives, and Malinao were on the first floor of the hotel shortly before the tsunami came.

They moved up to the second floor of the guest-packed hotel when the tsunami struck, badly damaging the first floor.

Del Castillo narrated his story in text messages to his daughter Ivory Lucasan, who in turn told radio station dyEZ Aksyon Radyo in Bacolod of what she believed was the miraculous survival of her father.

"God is really with us because he placed us on the second floor," Del Castillo was quoted by his daughter as saying.

Del Castillo has been performing in various Asian and Middle East countries since the early 1980s. He was in Phuket last year and moved to Maldives in May this year, his daughter said.

--inq7.net 2004-12-30