MANILA — Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro on Thursday said they are working to help locate a Filipino who went missing in Nepal's massive flash flood, including securing DNA samples from his family for matching.
“All the resources, international organizations as well as the local authorities are still in the process of searching as there are many. Reports said that there are about 4,000 missing persons. So now, I think we asked the family for the DNA so that we can match it with those bodies that are around the area,” Lazaro said.
In a message, Chiara Manalo, the sister of missing Filipino doctor Juan Carlos Manalo, said samples have yet to be collected from them as of Thursday afternoon.
Manalo told ABS-CBN News in a message, “No samples have been collected yet from my parents. We're closely coordinating with the Embassy, who is in correspondence with DFA. We were told that DFA is also coordinating with NBI regarding this.”
Manalo previously said they were waiting for updates from the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in India with concurrent jurisdiction over Nepal.
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The family earlier saw an official advisory from the Nepal police on DNA profiling, which led them to inquire with the embassy for coordination, according to Manalo.
“They called and asked us to wait, they were communicating with DFA at the time I think,” Manalo wrote.
In a Facebook post, the Nepal police said they are facilitating DNA testing to identify recovered bodies of missing Nepalese and foreign nationals after the Bhote Koshi river flood on August 26.
“A first-degree relative (father, mother, son, or daughter) is requested to undergo DNA profiling (Autosomal STR DNA profiling) at an authorized laboratory in their own country of residence and send a soft copy of the DNA profile to Nepal’s official email address,” the post said under instructions for relatives abroad.
Manalo added they have reached out to the Nepal police and laboratories that could provide DNA profiling.
“We're currently going through the proper government channels to coordinate with the relevant authorities in Nepal, as we've also been advised to hold our travel plans to Nepal for now. At the same time, we've reached out to laboratories that may be able to provide the DNA profiling and have also asked Nepal Police whether they require a specific format of the DNA profile/report from a laboratory in the Philippines for their identification process,” Manalo said.
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