24 January 2005 – The Philippine Embassy in Bangkok reported to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo that the task of identifying the fatalities and those declared missing and presumed dead as a result of the 26 December 2004 tsunami will now be the responsibility of the International Disaster Victim Identification Committee now renamed as Thailand Tsunami Victim Identification Committee or TTVIC.

The 18-member Philippine Forensic Team from the National Bureau of Investigation is a member of the TTVIC.  The Philippines sent two separate forensic teams to Thailand to help in the identification of thousands of tsunami victims in the country’s Southwestern region.  The first batch composed of eight forensic experts arrived in Phuket on 03 January, while the second team this time with 10 members left for Thailand on 17 January.

Ambassador Antonio V. Rodriquez informed Secretary Romulo that the Embassy will now coordinate with the TTVIC in the collection of the ante-mortem data and DNA samples from the next-of-kin (NOK) of the fatalities and the NOK of those included in the missing list.

In the meantime, the Embassy issued an updated list of Filipinos affected by the tsunami.  (Please refer to the separate Press Release on the list Filipino tsunami victims.)    A summary of the list is as follows:
 

Ambassador Rodriquez said that the Embassy has removed from the list of tsunami victims in Thailand the names of Filipino nationals Mr. James Brackett, Mr. Nelson Garma and Mr. Jay Ocampo due to a lack of solid information that will establish their presence in Thailand.    They were earlier included in the “whereabouts unknown” list.   The Embassy will henceforth consider the cases of Mssrs. Brackett, Garma and Ocampo  as Assistance To Nationals (ATN) involving missing persons.  Ambassador Rodriquez assured that though they were removed from the list, the Embassy remains committed to coordinate with their NOK in tracing their whereabouts.

Accordingly, the Department reiterates its request for the relatives in the Philippines of the 7 missing Filipinos in the list and of Mssrs. Brackett, Garma and Ocampo to immediately communicate with Ms. Sheila Solas of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs, DFA, through telephone number 8344594, for the collection by the NBI Forensic Department in Manila of DNA samples that will assist the Philippine Forensic Team in Phuket in searching for the missing Filipinos.

The Embassy has also decided to remove the name of a certain Mr. Alvin Sumawang from the list of possible Filipino tsunami victims pending verification of his identify and nationality by the Disaster Coordinating Committee of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In view of the absence of new information on Filipino nationals affected by the tsunami, Ambassador Rodriquez said this latest summary of the list of Filipino tsunami victims is deemed final.    The Embassy noted that, in the list of 5 fatalities, except for Ms. Sharleen May Ang Tan, who was in Patong Beach, Phuket with her family on 26 December 2004, the other four Filipino fatalities and all those declared missing were at the Khao Lak area in Phangnga province at the time of the disaster.      Information on the Filipinos in Thailand affected by the tsunami is available at the Philippine Embassy, Bangkok website www.philembassy-bangkok.net.

In view of this final list of Filipinos affected by the tsunami, Ambassador Rodriquez informed Secretary Romulo that the Embassy Task Force has decided to pull out its consular representatives in Phuket, namely, Consul Marshall Luis Alferez and Mr. Surapong Surasith, and will continue to assist the concerned Filipino nationals from the Embassy in Bangkok.  END
 

/jay