Kin of 2 Ilonggo quake victims to travel to NZ

ILOILO CITY , Philippines  – With nothing definite yet on the fate of their loved ones, the families of two Ilonggo nurses who were trapped in the collapsed Canterbury Television (CTV) building in Christchurch, New Zealand are scheduled to fly to New Zealand.

Alexander Amantillo, Jr., brother of nurse Mary Louise Anne Amantillo, said their travel however still needs a go-signal from the New Zealand government, the confirmation of which has yet to be received by the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs, as of yesterday.

“Once na may go-signal na from the New Zealand, the DFA would okay our travel,” he said.

Alexander and his cousin, Charo Estipona, were supposed to leave for New Zealand today, Tuesday, along with the family of another quake victim, Ilonggo nurse Valquin Bensurto.

Two family members for every quake victim would be allowed to go to New Zealand, authorities said.

As of yesterday also, Alexander said they have yet to receive news on the status of his sister. “But we’re all praying that she and the others would be rescued soon,” he said.

Mary Louise Anne and Bensurto, were classmates at St. Paul University Iloilo (not University of San Agustin as earlier reported) and graduated in 2008. Mary Louise Anne is from Balasan, Iloilo while Valquin is from Iloilo City.

Together, they went to New Zealand and enrolled at Kings Education Language School, a requisite before they could work as full-time nurses in that country. They were on their 10th day of school when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch and caused the collapse of their schoolbuilding.

They were among the 11 Filipinos out of the 228 reportedly missing who may be still trapped in the rubble.

Mary Louise Anne’s mother, Linda, and Valquin’s mother, Leonisa, both pleaded to authorities to speed up rescue efforts so that their children would be taken out of the rubble safely.