The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is continuously coordinating with the Philippine embassies in Türkiye and Syria to check on the condition of the Filipinos there after a destructive earthquake left thousands of people dead in the two countries.
As of Tuesday, Feb. 7, DFA said no Filipinos have been reported as casualties of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake and its aftershocks that hit the Turkish city of Gaziantep in the early morning of Monday.
According to figures from the attached agencies of the DFA, there are some 248 Filipinos in Turkish provinces that were affected by the earthquake, while there are 60 in Syria.
The Philippine embassies in Ankara and Damascus have already expressed their sympathies with the people of Türkiye and Syria as the death toll already rose to 4,300 on Tuesday.
"We wish for the speedy recovery of the wounded and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims," the Philippine Embassy in Ankara said in a statement.
"The Philippine Embassy in Damascus conveys its sincerest condolences to the families of the casualties of the powerful earthquake that hit the Northern part of the Syrian Arab Republic," the Philippine Embassy in Syria stated.
DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo also commiserated with the two countries "for the tragic loss of lives and catastrophic damage caused by yesterday's quake."