As of press time, the Business Mirror website reports that four more Filipinos known to have been in collapsed buildings in Haiti are now the focus of a search by fellow peacekeepers from several countries. The four include United Nations Peacekeepers Sergeants Janice Arocena and Eustacio Bermudez, and contract workers Grace Fabian and Geraldine Lalican.
There were high hopes for finding several Filipino UN peacekeepers alive but it was known Philippine Navy Data Processor Perlie Panangui’s body had been recovered together with UN staffer Jerome Yap.
Previous to the recovery of Panangui’s remains, the body of Yap was also found under the wreckage of the UN stabilization mission headquarters at the Christopher Hotel, where the body of Hedi Annabi, the special representative of the UN Secretary General, was also found. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said Yap served as executive
assistant to Luis Carlos da Costa, the deputy special representative of the UN Secretary General, who also died in the Haiti tragedy. Panangui is a native of Zamboanga del Sur and a member of the 10th Contingent
to Haiti. Philippine Navy Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said her death reminded the military of the heroism of the Filipino soldier—“a single individual who made the ultimate sacrifice while sharing the commitment of her nation to international peace and security.”