Filipina found alive after 3 days under quake rubble

by Bernadette tamayo and Vince JacoB Visaya ManilaTimes.net

A TEAM from the Philippine Embassy in Turkey on Tuesday, February 14 visited in the hospital a Filipina earthquake survivor who was rescued after three days under the rubble from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria last week.

The Philippine Embassy, on Facebook, said its Mersinbased team checked on the condition of Juliva Benlingan, 33, a native of Lagawe, Ifugao, who was previously reported missing.

According to her sister Maribel, Benlingan sustained wounds on her face, head and feet, and was dehydrated when rescued.

“As she recovers well at an Adana hospital, she thanked God for a second chance at life and the embassy for their well wishes,” the embassy said.

The team provided Benlingan with financial assistance and gave her doctors and nurses “tokens of our appreciation.”

Maribel said Juliva, mother to a 12-year-old girl, endured 60 hours under the rubble of a collapsed building before she was rescued.

In its continuous evaluation on the ground, the Philippine Embassy said it is “focusing on management of its resources toward the welfare, recovery and return to normalcy of Filipino evacuees.”

Displaced Filipinos continue to arrive at the shelter in Ankara, transported by the embassy and on their own volition, it added.

The embassy said its team in Mersin “is also in contact with a set of volunteers from the hospitality industry who have offered to provide food assistance to FilipinoTurkish families who chose to remain in Antakya and to [the] Philippine humanitarian contingent in Adiyaman province.”

“We deeply appreciate the charity of kababayan (fellow Filipinos) and our Turkish brethren,” it added.