00:00The number of people affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles, America, has increased to 21.
00:05The Philippine consulate there visited the evacuation center to discuss the situation of our affected countrymen.
00:13Katrina Son was there.
00:17The wildfires in Los Angeles are still not stopped.
00:22In the Palisades fire, which is one of the five consecutive wildfires in California,
00:28firefighters left the scene because the fire was very close.
00:34The GMA Integrated News also tried to enter the affected area of the Palisades fire.
00:39Security is tight in the area where several people were burned.
00:44Dr. Teresa Merced's family is one of the victims of the Palisades fire.
00:50It was past 10 in the morning on January 7,
00:53when they suddenly received news that they needed to evacuate.
01:20Driving down, the flames were surrounding us on both sides of the mountain.
01:26They also don't know how they will be able to escape from the growing and raging fire.
01:34I was feeling despair, despair and just fear.
01:39I had my 12-year-old son with me, my daughter, who's 18, was in school, so she was not with us.
01:46But it was just sheer terror of not knowing if we were going to make it off the mountain.
01:53And of course, I did not want to relay my anxieties to my son, who was visibly upset.
02:00But it was hopeless, hopelessness and just really anxiety and fear.
02:07When her husband returned to their house,
02:10they were forced to leave their 13-year-old home.
02:15There's nothing left. It was just ash and rubble.
02:19What they are thankful for is that the whole family was saved and the dog was taken care of.
02:25They don't even know what to do for now.
02:28They are just staying with their family.
02:31Aside from Dr. Merced, there were other Filipinos who were also victims of the wildfire.
02:38For now, three families have reached the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles.
02:44They only asked if they can renew their passports because when they immigrated,
02:50they cannot see where their passports are.
02:54I have been given authority by the Department of Foreign Affairs
02:58to provide a small financial assistance for those affected.
03:04The initial that we can provide is a write-off of $200.
03:10It is estimated that 3 million Filipinos are in California based on the records of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
03:172 million here are in Southern California, including Los Angeles.
03:22There is no exact record of the affected Filipinos in the consulate.
03:27But they have already visited the evacuations and asked how the affected Filipinos are doing.
03:32For those who have relatives in Southern California who cannot be contacted,
03:36they can contact the Philippine consulate in Los Angeles.
03:40For Jimmy Integrated News, Katrina Son, Nakatutok, 24 Horas.
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