MANILA – A Filipina earlier presumed to have died from the magnitude 7.8 quake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday is still alive, the Filipino community in Ankara said.

On Wednesday, a leader of the Filipino community in Turkey said they received word that a Filipina had died from the quake, according to her employer.

• 3 Filipinos missing after magnitude 7.8 quake in Turkey: community leader

But she has since been found alive, according to Cherry Torres, president of the Pinoy in Ankara Community.

“Kanina pong hapon, may lumabas po na balita na parang may narecover na pong isang Pinay. Isang kababayan po natin ang na-recover, napabalita po nung una na cinonfirm po ng amo na patay na pero na-recover po siya, buhay po,” she related.

(This afternoon, we received news that a Pinay was recovered. This was the one whose employer said she has died. But she is alive.)

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Torres said they rarely get a chance to communicate with Filipinos in affected areas of Turkey.

“Yung communication po hindi po madalas, kasi po nakiusap po ang gobyerno na wag muna masyadong tumawag sa mga affected areas gawa ng hindi po kayang supplyan ng telecommunication company,” she said.

(Communication is not ofteb, the government has asked us not to call the affected area so much because telecommunication companies have been affected.

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She said they are now seeking cash donations for the affected Filipinos.

“Ang Turkish government po, siyempre po unahin po nila yung mga locals nila. So ngayon po yung ginagawa po naming donation drive, para po yun sa mga kababayan natin, and may mga natatanggap po kaming mga messages galing sa ibang bansa na gustong mag-cash donation. Yun na lang po sana hinihiling namin para po hindi na po kami mahirapan sa mga stuff, kasi ipapa-cargo pa po yun,” she explained.

“Kung cash donations po, makakabili po kami or ibibigay naming doon sa mga biktima yung cash para sila na lang po yung bibili ng mga pangangailangan nila,” she added.

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(The Turkish government is of course prioritizing their locals. So we are doing a donation drive for Filipinos. SO far we have been receiving messages from donors in other countries asking about cash donations. We'd like to keep it that way, so we don't have to send the stuff via cargo. With cash donations, we can buy the items ourselves or give them directly to the victims so they can buy their own needs.)

The death toll from the massive earthquake has risen above 11,200.

• WHO warns of worse secondary health crisis in quake zone

--TeleRadyo, 9 February 2023

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