The shells of burned houses and buildings are left after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of the town in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, US. (August 11, 2023) (File photo from Hawai’i Department of Land and Natural Resources/Handout via REUTERS)
MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipino fatalities in the wildfires in Hawaii is now three.
Philippine Consul General in Honolulu Emilio Fernandez on Friday identified the third Filipino who died as Salvador Coloma, 77, during a phone call with INQUIRER.net.
“According to the records of the Philippine Consulate in Honolulu, Coloma renewed his Philippine passport in 2022 and is, thus, confirmed to have been a Filipino citizen at the time of his death,” said the consul general.
He also said they contacted a relative of Coloma to convey the consulate’s profound condolences and offer the Philippine government’s assistance to the victim’s family.
The statement comes amid reports on the different numbers of alleged fatalities of Filipinos in the Maui tragedy.
“Yung ibang information [na] lumalabas online, [claiming] na mga Filipino sila… hindi sila nag appear sa aming records, which means that it’s entirely possible that they are Filipino, pero hindi lang sila nag apply ng passport o naging dual [citizens],” explained Fernandez.
(On the other information [that] appearing online, [claiming] that they are Filipinos… they did not appear in our records, which means that they may be Filipinos, but they didn’t just apply for a passport or become dual citizens.)
“Baka kasi Americano na sila, o na-naturalized na sila bilang US citizen. Entirely possible na Filipino sila,” he added.
(Maybe because they are already American, or they are already naturalized as US citizens. They may be Filipinos.)
Fernandez stressed their records showed that only three fatalities have been confirmed to have Filipino blood.
The Filipinos who died following the wildfires were all elderly males.
Their names are as follows:
- Alfredo Galinato, 79
- Rodolfo Rocutan, 76
- Salvador Coloma, 77
Meanwhile, the consulate is still verifying the nationality of the following individuals who have also died from the fires:
- Conchita Sagudang, 75
- Antonia Molina, 64
- Carlo Tobias, 54
- Danilo Sagudang, 55
Fernandez said the total number of deaths due to the catastrophe has reached 115.
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