DFA: 6 Filipinos fleeing conflict now in Moldova
Six Filipinos from Ukraine were able to evacuate to Moldova, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday.
The evacuees included a medical student at the Bukovinian State Medical University, two Filipinos married to Ukrainian nationals and two Filipinos working for an international organization.
In an earlier update, the DFA said there were five evacuees on their way to the Moldovan border, southwest of Ukraine. One of the two Filipinos married to Ukrainian nationals traveled with her 2-year-old son, who counted as a sixth evacuee.
Honorary Consul Victor Gaina of the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Chisinau, Moldova, assisted in ensuring the safe passage of the evacuees, in coordination with the Philippine Embassy in Budapest under Ambassador Frank Cimafranca.
The DFA advised Filipinos who need repatriation assistance near the borders of Moldova and Romania to coordinate with the Philippine Embassy in Budapest.
The DFA also received reports that two vessels with Filipino crew members—the commercial cargo ship Yasa Jupiter, which carried the flag of the Marshall Islands, and the Panamanian-flagged grain bulk carrier MV Nomura Queen—were hit by shelling last Thursday off the coast of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.
The Philippine Embassy in Ankara and the Philippine Consulate General in Istanbul immediately coordinated with Yasa Holding, the Turkish owner of the ship, and confirmed that all crew members, including 11 Filipinos, were safe and were now in contact with their families.
One of the 21 Filipinos on board the Nomura Queen was slightly injured but all were found safe.
According to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, the vessel docked at Istanbul for repairs and was expected to arrive on Monday at the earliest.
The DFA also said the 13 Filipinos whom it reported on Sunday to have crossed the Polish border from Ukraine were due to arrive on Monday or Tuesday.
There are also around 10 Filipinos waiting to be evacuated from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Foreign Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said at Monday’s Laging Handa briefing.
