Anguilla, Sint Maarten Deployment Augments Ph Govt’s Post-Irma Response

Philippine Government Response Team packs emergency lights and other supplies for distribution to Filipinos on Anguilla

18 September 2017 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two separate response teams were dispatched to assist Filipino nationals affected by Hurricane Irma on Anguilla and Sint Maarten.

The Philippine Embassies in Washington, D.C. and The Hague reported to Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano that the Anguilla team departed Washington, D.C. today and arrived on Puerto Rico where supplies would be purchased for distribution to the estimated 72 kababayans on the British territory. The Sint Maarten team departed from The Hague, Netherlands and is currently in Curacao. Both missions are poised to reach their respective destinations tomorrow, 16 September.

Meanwhile, the personnel from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Philippine Overseas Labor and Welfare Office (POLO-OWWA) in Washington, D.C., who were deployed to the US Virgin Islands (USVI) have returned to Puerto Rico to support the response team stationed there. 

Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda traveled to Washington, D.C. to coordinate the efforts of the Sint Maarten mission with the overall post-Irma response in the Caribbean.

One week after Irma’s destructive crossing through the Lesser Antilles, the Philippine Government, through the DFA-Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., Philippine Embassy in The Hague, POLO-OWWA in Washington, D.C., has been able to distribute basic provisions to the Filipinos on the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the USVI, and organize the groundwork for the repatriation of Filipinos who have volunteered to evacuate the BVI, Anguilla and Sint Maarten.

Those who want to share or find information about the condition of their family members and friends in the abovementioned places may reach the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. through the following contact information:

• Emergency hotline: +1 (202) 368 2767
• Email addresses:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Facebook:facebook.com/philippinesusa
• Twitter:@philippinesusa

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