The Philippine Consulate in Hawaii still has no information on any Filipinos affected by the deadliest wildfire to hit Maui within the century.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday, August 14, relayed the information from the consulate after an official of the Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce said in a GMA News interview that "hundreds of Filipinos are missing."
"The Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu is in touch with local authorities and is closely monitoring the wildfires in the counties of Hawaii (Big Island) and Maui in Hawaii. As of 12 August 2023, there is no information if any Filipino nationals are affected by the wildfires," the DFA said.
DFA said the consulate already posted advisories and contact details on its social media pages for Filipinos seeking assistance.
On Sunday, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said 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 said in an interview with Super Radyo dzBB.
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, he added.
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.