Morocco quake death toll rises to 2,122 | New Day - video Dailymotion

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The Philippine Embassy in Morocco is coordinating with community leaders in different parts of the country after a magnitude 6.8 quake killed over 2,000 people.  Let's check on the situation of Filipinos in Morocco. Joining us on the line is Philippine Ambassador Leslie Baja.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Now let's check on the situation of Filipinos in Morocco.

00:03 Joining us now on the line is Philippine Ambassador Leslie Baja.

00:07 Good morning from Manila, Ambassador, and thank you for joining us.

00:10 Good evening.

00:12 Sir, of course, the biggest concern here is

00:14 have you received any reports of Filipino casualties

00:18 or injuries or any Filipino affected by the quake?

00:23 Fortunately, there are no Filipino casualties.

00:27 Of course, when the earthquakes struck,

00:31 the Filipinos all over Morocco, I believe,

00:35 went out of their houses and apartments,

00:38 into the streets to seek safety.

00:41 But otherwise, no Filipinos were affected seriously by the earthquake.

00:47 That's certainly good to hear, Ambassador.

00:49 But how many Filipinos are there in Morocco

00:53 and how are you reaching out to them

00:55 or are any of them reaching out to you for any assistance?

01:00 Well, there are an estimated 4,600 Filipinos in Morocco.

01:06 We have what we call area coordinators,

01:11 which are mostly the Filipino community leaders

01:14 in various areas of Morocco where there are Filipinos residing or working.

01:20 So when the earthquakes struck, we contacted each and every one of them

01:26 to ascertain whether or not there were Filipinos

01:28 who were affected by the earthquake.

01:30 And as I said earlier, fortunately, none were affected, none were hurt.

01:36 It's just that when the earthquake struck,

01:38 they simply had to leave their dwellings.

01:42 Right. Should the need arise, Ambassador,

01:44 what kind of assistance will you be able to give Filipinos affected by the quake?

01:49 Of course, the embassy will be on standby here

01:52 together with the Migrant Workers Office in Rabat.

01:55 We'll certainly coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs

01:59 regarding any assistance that will be extended to the Filipinos.

02:04 All right, sir. And lastly, how can Filipinos reach the embassy

02:08 should they need assistance?

02:11 Well, when the earthquake struck,

02:14 we immediately reminded the community about the assistance

02:19 to the national hotline of the embassy.

02:21 Plus, of course, we have our social media accounts

02:24 in Facebook and Twitter or X.

02:27 And so these are the means that the Filipinos here

02:30 are able to contact the embassy,

02:32 as well as the relatives in the Philippines

02:34 who wish to get in touch with their relatives through the embassy.

02:40 All right. So it certainly seems all systems are in place there.

02:42 Ambassador, would you know if there are any efforts

02:45 from the Philippine government to help Morocco

02:48 in the aftermath of the quake?

02:50 By that, I mean, will we be sending a team, for instance,

02:53 to assist the rescue operations there?

02:56 I think these are being considered, but right now,

03:01 as you mentioned already, some countries have offered assistance.

03:05 But the, what you call this, the situation

03:09 may not necessarily call for assistance coming from us

03:14 as much as in the previous earthquakes

03:16 which struck other countries in the world.

03:19 All right, sir. Thank you for your time this morning.

03:21 We do appreciate it.

03:22 Philippine Ambassador Leslie Bajat, do stay safe, sir.

03:25 Thank you very much.

Morocco quake death toll rises to 2,122 | New Day

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