3 November 2005 – Consul General Erlinda C. Basa of the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, reported to Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo that the Embassy has been coordinating with Vietnamese authorities in the search for a Filipino engineer who was reported missing during a flash flood generated by Typhoon Kai-Tak, which hit the central Vietnamese provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien on 1 November 2005.

Consul General Basa reported to Secretary Romulo that the Filipino engineer was inspecting a mine site and was swept away by the sudden swelling of a river that he and his three companions were trying to cross on their way back to their base camp.

The Consul General added that the involvement of Filipino engineers at the mining project appeared to be a recent development as none of the new arrivals had yet registered with the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi.

Secretary Romulo immediately directed the Embassy to trace the employer of the missing Filipino as well as his co-workers to obtain additional information on the incident and the events that led to it, and to assist other Filipinos who may have been affected by the typhoon.  The Secretary likewise instructed the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) to seek the missing engineer’s next-of-kin, and extend assistance to them.  END