MANILA – There were no Filipinos among the reported casualties in military strikes in Syria, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday.
The Philippine Embassy in Damascus has been reaching members of the Filipino community to check their on situation since the missile strikes began at around 4 a.m. that day, DFA communications chief Elmer Cato said.
“So far the Embassy has not received any reports of Filipino casualties in the attacks that appear to have targeted military installations in and around Damascus,” he said.
“The Embassy also has not received any request for assistance from any of the estimated 500 Filipinos in Damascus and the other 500 in other parts of Syria,” he added.
The DFA reminded all Filipinos in Syria to stay inside their houses.
Cato said the Embassy had issued advisories to Filipinos as early as April 8 in anticipation of a possible military action against Syria after the alleged chemical attack in Douma and the mortar shelling of certain parts of Damascus in recent weeks.
On Saturday (Manila time), United States President Donald Trump announced the joint US-British-French operation targeting the regime of Ashar al-Bassad in retaliation for the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta on April 7.
At least three military installations in Damascus and several other areas in Syria were targeted in the missile attacks, the Philippine Embassy reported on Saturday afternoon.
Among those targeted was an installation located 1 kilometer from the Philippine Embassy.
All Philippine Embassy personnel led by Chargé d’ Affaires Crescente Relacion were safe and accounted for, according to the DFA.
There were 17,000 Filipinos in Syria when the civil war erupted in 2011. Syria remained under crisis alert level 4 since then.
According to Cato, the remaining 1,000 Filipinos in Syria were mostly spouses of Syrian nationals and household service workers. (PNA)
