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MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE) "Proof of life" was heard from under the rubble of a Haiti building following a catastrophic earthquake that struck the island-state Tuesday (Wednesday, Manila time), a military spokesman said Friday.
This also raised hopes that the three Filipino peacekeepers reportedly trapped at the Christopher Hotel could still be alive, according to Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner.
In an interview, Brawner said rescuers scouring the rubble heard people?s voices and sounds of moving objects.
Brawner said this information was relayed to him by Colonel Gregory Cayetano, chief of the military?s peacekeeping operations center in Camp O?Donnel in Capas, Tarlac, who was being kept posted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Cuban consulate.
Brawner said that the voices heard by rescuers could belong to Data Processing Technician Third Class Perlie Panangue, Sergeant Janice Arocena, and Sergeant Eustacio Bermudes, Jr. who were working at the UN office in the building when the 7.0 earthquake struck past 5 p.m.
On Thursday, one Filipino peacekeeper, Corporal David Catacutan, was rescued by members of the Philippine contingent at the Montana Hotel.
Brawner said that based on initial medical examination, Catacutan sustained bruises but was now recovering at the headquarters of the Philippine peacekeeping mission in Haiti.
Brawner said that the family ?has been informed about the rescue last night.?
Heavy equipment have arrived onsite to remove and haul the large slabs of collapsed concrete, he said.
Special teams are also helping in the rescue operations.
?We?re doing the rescue operations very carefully to ensure that those who are alive would be rescued safely,? said the military official.
Brawner said the military has instructed the 11th Philippine contingent to Haiti to be on stand by in case President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decides to send more aid to Haiti.
There are 157 officers and enlisted personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and 15 officers from the Philippine National Police (PNP) serving with MINUSTAH. There are also an undetermined number of Filipino civilian staff working with the UN.
Aside from the peacekeepers, there are some 447 Filipinos working in the garments, telecommunication and power sectors in the country, mostly in middle and upper management levels. There are also Filipino nuns and priests in Haiti.
The DFA has sent instructions to the Philippine Mission in New York, as well as the Philippine Embassy in Havana, Cuba, to check on the conditions of the members of the Filipino community in Haiti.
The Philippine Mission in New York will coordinate with the United Nations on the extension of assistance to them, as well as to the Haiti government and people.
Hundreds of thousands of people are feared dead in the earthquake that is considered the worst to have hit Haiti in years.
