Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople today instructed Philippine Ambassador to Israel Belen F. Anota to take care of the reported 4 Filipinos who were hurt in the latest bombing incident there.  Ople also asked Ambassador Anota, who herself customarily visits Filipinos in hospital, to lose no time in taking care of the ones who figured in this latest act of violence.  He also said for her to convey to them his personal assurances that the Philippine Embassy will be there for them, doing what it can in cooperation with Israeli authorities in seeing to it that they are attended to until they are on their feet again.

Still-unconfirmed reports have it that there were also a number of deaths but that it is not yet definite if Filipinos were among them as not all identities could yet be established.  While it may be possible to identify soon enough those victims who died in area hospitals, it is more difficult to do the same for those who died at the scene of the explosion.  Their identification papers may have been damaged or separated from their person.

Ambassador Anota and her staff are still gathering additional details of the incident, particularly about other possible Filipino casualties but since it was still 3 o’ clock in the morning in Israel when she spoke to Secretary Ople, they expect more information by daylight.

Meanwhile, Ople has issued corresponding instructions to the DFA Home Office personnel – specifically the DFA-DOLE-OWWA Action Center housed in the Department premises -- to sift through various news sources about this incident and to inform him right away of any new developments.