2 Filipinos killed in Australian wildfire - DFA

MANILA, Philippines - Two Filipino-Australian siblings were killed as wildfires raged on, engulfing million-dollar properties in Australia and leaving more than 170 people dead.

Interviewed over radio dzBB, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Bayani Mangibin said Tuesday afternoon that the Philippine Embassy in Canberra reported the latest casualties to their office.

The Filipino casualties were siblings according to Mangibin, "one is 24 years old and the other is 22-years old."

Based on reports reaching him, Mangibin said the Filipino-Australian siblings - one male, one female - "perished at the brushfire that hit Victoria."

Until the relatives of the Filipinos are reached here in the Philippines, Mangibin said the Philippine Embassy cannot divulge the names of the victims.

As the number of casualties climb to more than 173 on Tuesday, the Australian Red Cross has set up a hotline for Filipinos and other people with relatives who may be affected by the Victorian bushfires there.

Concerned Filipino relatives may call the Australian Red Cross hotline on +61-3-9328-3716.

But a bulletin on the Australian embassy said the Australian Red Cross said callers to the hotline may experience delays due to the high volume of calls.

There are 250, 347 Filipinos in Australia as of 2007, data from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas showed. Of this number, more than 220,000 are permanent settlers while close to 20,000 are migrant workers.

Grasslands have been burning for weeks in the southeastern state of Victoria but turned deadly Saturday when searing temperatures and wind blasts created a firestorm that swept across a swath of the region, the Associated Press reported.

A long-running drought in the south — the worst in a century — had left forests extra dry and Saturday's fire conditions were said to be the worst ever in Australia.

Disaster officials found charred bodies on roadsides and in crashed cars — grim signs of the futile attempt to flee raging wildfires fed by 60 mph winds, record heat and drought that caught even fire-savvy Australians by surprise.

As the death toll rose Tuesday to 173 in Australia's worst wildfire disaster, suspicions that some of the 400 blazes were caused by arson led police to declare crime scenes in some of the incinerated towns, police Senior Constable Cendra Jackson said.

Firefighters battled more than a dozen blazes that burned out of control across Victoria state, although conditions were much cooler than Saturday. Forecasters said temperatures would rise later this week, posing a risk of flare-ups. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more