ILOILO CITY, Philippines - An Ilonggo nurse was confirmed dead following the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch City, New Zealand three weeks ago.
Valquin Bensurto, 23, a resident of Brgy. Cubay, Jaro, Iloilo City, was among the 11 Filipinos who were reported missing after the earthquake.
He was also the fifth Filipino who was identified from among the bodies that were sifted through the rubbles of CTV building, per records of the New Zealand police.
Valquin's mother Leonisa claimed that her husband Rodolfo, who arrived in New Zealand last Saturday, confirmed that the body is that of their son.
Another Ilongga nurse Mary Louise Anne Amantillo has remained missing until yesterday.
Both Bensurto and Amantillo graduated at St. Paul University Iloilo last 2008. They were studying English language review course at the King's Education language school in the CTV building, one of the worst-hit in February's earthquake.
The review class was in preparation for the English language exam, a prerequisite for the Competency Assessment Program (CAP).
It was gathered that Filipino nurses who wish to work in New Zealand must undergo and pass the CAP to get a New Zealand nursing registration.
Immediately after the earthquake, a flatmate of the victims April Adit claimed that she called Louise because she remembered her to be attending a class at CTV building. Louise then told her that she was trapped in the rubble and that Valquin was beside her and seemed to be dead. — THE FREEMAN