Body of another Pinoy found in Haiti rubble

MANILA, Philippines - The body of one of the two remaining Filipino peacekeepers trapped under the ruins of the collapsed Christopher Hotel was recovered Tuesday night, the military said yesterday.

The remains of Army Special Forces Sgt. Eustacio Bermudez Jr. were recovered at 8:30 p.m. Manila time.

AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said Bermudez was a clerk at the office of the mission’s Discipline Unit-Provost Marshall.

“On behalf of the chief of staff, Gen. Victor Ibrado, officers,

enlisted personnel, and civilian employees of the AFP, we would like to extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family, relatives, and friends of Sgt. Bermudez. Good must die, but death cannot kill his name and he has now made a mark on the AFP and the whole Filipino nation,” Brawner said.

The recovery of Bermudez’s body dampened hopes of recovering Air Force Sgt. Janice Arocena, who has been buried under the rubble for eight days.

Three Filipinos have now perished in the magnitude 7 earthquake that rocked the Caribbean nation on Jan. 12.

On Tuesday, rescuers recovered the bodies of Navy Data Processor-3 (DP3) Pearly Panangui and UN staff Jerome Yap from the same site.

Brawner said rescuers continue to search for Arocena.

“Our troops are continuously digging through the rubble, still hoping to find her (Arocena) alive,” Brawner said.

Rescuers are also still searching for Filipina workers Grace Fabian and Geraldine Lalican believed buried under the Caribbean Supermarket.

The Haitian government said the quake killed 75,000, injured 250,000 and left more than a million homeless.

The Manila-based International Committee of the Red Cross said its volunteers finally reached earthquake victims outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. 

ICRC said the quake also caused immense infrastructure damage outside the capital, making transportation difficult.

Anastasia Isyuk of the ICRC said their volunteers have reached the city of Léogane, 60 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince.

“We are setting up first-aid posts in the areas hardest hit by the earthquake and plan to step up our medical assistance in Léogane in the coming days,” she said.