DFA: Kin’s plea to come with PH rescue team in Myanmar ‘not recommended’

Edsil Jess Adalid and his wife Alexis are missing in Myanmar quake. (Photo from Adalid family)

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs does not recommend that the relatives of two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), missing since an earthquake hit Myanmar on March 28, fly out with the Philippine rescue team, a DFA official said on Tuesday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega made this response to a request by the parents of Edsil Jess Adalid to join the country’s contingent team in Myanmar before dawn Tuesday.

Edsil and his wife Alexis Gale, both teachers at Mandalay International School of Acumen for the past two years, are among four Filipinos still missing in Myanmar, according to the DFA.

The first batch of the rescue team departed from Villamor Air Base aboard a C-130 aircraft early Tuesday.

Another batch of the rescue team, however, will follow on Wednesday.

READ: Philippines deploys search and rescue team to quake-hit Myanmar

When asked about the request made by Edsil’s parents, Vega told INQUIRER.net: “We do not recommend it due to the situation there.”

Vega added that the Department of National Defense is now in charge of the deployment of rescue personnel.

Myanmar’s military junta said the massive 7.7-magnitude quake claimed over 2,000 lives while 3,900 people were injured,  according to an Agence France-Presse report.

A total of 270 people remain missing following the Myanmar earthquake, the junta said.