The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have announced two, separate hotlines where Filipinos could call to check the whereabouts and conditions of their relatives working or living in earthquake-shattered Haiti.

In a statement, the DFA said that Filipinos who have relatives in Haiti may call the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) at telephone 02-8344996 for information.

Military officials meanwhile advised relatives of Filipinos peacekeepers to contact their hotline mobile number 0919-8776728. 157 soldiers and 15 policemen from the Philippines form part of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The Philippine Red Cross also accepts inquiries via telephone number 02-5270000.

“There are an estimated 462 Filipinos in Haiti, of which 290 are civilians and 172 are peacekeepers.  The Filipino civilians are mostly in the garments, telecommunication and power generation sectors.  They mostly occupy middle and upper management positions.  There are also Filipino nuns and priests in Haiti,” according to the DFA.

A report said that three other Filipino peacekeepers remain trapped in one of the many collapsed buildings in the Haitian capital.

The Vatican’s representative in Haiti, the Papal Nuncio Bernardito Auza, is also a Filipino. The Inquirer has reported that Auza has been able to contact his relatives in Bohol to inform them he was safe following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

The Philippines only has an honorary consulate in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.