The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it has not received confirmation yet of any Filipinos hurt or died amid the wildfires that hit Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii last week.
Taylor Ganer and Hano Ganer search for their belongings in the ashes of their family's burnt-down house in the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, western Maui, Hawaii on August 11, 2023. (Photo by Patrick Fallon / AFP)
In an interview with Super Radyo dzBB, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega stressed that despite a report from the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce that hundreds of Filipinos were among the more than 1,000 missing in the wildfires, there is no word yet on whether they are indeed Filipino citizens.
“Maaari po, pero hindi natin masabi kung talagang Filipino citizens pa kasi sabi ni Consul General Emilio Fernandez, karamihan ng mga Pilipino sa Maui ay American citizens (It is possible, but we cannot say if they are still Filipino citizens because as Consul General Emilio Fernandez said, most Filipinos in Maui are American citizens),” he shared.
Authorities would still need to gather more data to confirm reports, but it has been difficult because internet and communication lines to the island were still down.
Although he verified that 1,000 people were indeed missing, De Vega cautioned against making conclusions since they still need to check the data once communications lines are back up.
According to the DFA official, there are 25,000 Filipino-Americans in Maui, comprising 17 percent of the island’s population.
“Yung mga Filipino naman, wala naman mismo sa forest. Hindi naman sila mismo sa kung saan ‘yun sunog, pero malapit. May mga neighborhood, nasunog ang bahay (The Filipinos are not in the forest itself. They don’t live where the fire was, but they are near. There are neighborhoods where houses burned down),” De Vega said.
“Pero ‘yung mga Pilipino nagtatrabaho dun sa tourist hotel-resort, tulad nang sabi ng Maui Chambers of Commerce, kung missing, ibig sabihin nawalan ng contact o pina-evacuate (But the Filipinos who work in the tourist hotel-resort, like what the Maui Chambers of Commerce said if they are missing, it means they lost contact or have been evacuated),” he added.
So far, the latest report was that things are returning to normal and displaced people can go back to their homes since the wildfires are being controlled, the official noted.
He also expressed confidence that “within 24 to 48 hours,” the situation would be clearer as he confirmed the report from the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce that no Filipinos were transferred to Honolulu.