Filipinos based on the island of Maui, Hawaii are not likely to seek repatriation despite the massive wildfires that devastated the town of Lahaina, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes, citing his conversation with the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce, said Filipinos whose homes were burned down by the wildfires were already evacuated by authorities to shelters also within Maui.
“Our countrymen in the US are permanent residents. That means they are already living there, and it’s unlikely that they will ask for repatriation like our compatriots caught in the crisis situations in Sudan or in Turkey,” Cortes said in an interview with GMA News.
“In this case, since they live in the United States, and they have the US government assisting them as well, it’s unlikely that they will ask for repatriation,” he added.
Cortes, however, said the DFA will assist any Philippine passport holders who may still wish to be repatriated.
The Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce earlier said hundreds of Filipinos were among the more than 1,000 missing in the wildfires which erupted last week.
DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega on Sunday said there are about 25,000 Filipino-Americans in Maui, which comprised 17 percent of the island’s population.
De Vega also said there were no confirmed Filipino deaths arising from the wildfires.
Meanwhile, the Filipino community on Maui is bracing for a long wait to determine the status of Filipinos affected by the wildfires.
Kit Zulueta Furukawa, director of the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce, said the authorities in Maui have advised families with missing relatives to submit their DNA for matching with the recovered bodies.
“The priority of the local authorities here is the safety of the first responder and to secure the area… I think there are efforts that will come eventually for [a] list of names. I’m no expert but this is fire-burned victims so I can see reports of experts flown in from other places. As I mentioned, they are bringing experts with expertise in identifying bodies,” Furukawa said in an interview with GMA News.
Search and recovery teams are leaving orange X marks on houses they have checked as they continue to look for human remains in areas where they have recovered burnt bodies.
Forensic anthropologists experienced in identifying burnt bodies are arriving on Maui Island one by one.
Several Filipino-Americans who are members of the US Army National Guard are part of the search and recovery teams.
At least 90 percent of the wildfires have reportedly already been placed under control.