Filipina Soul

“It is imperative that we find his relatives so we could bring Mr. (Bernabe) Vicarmehome.”

Mr. Vicarme was one of the passengers of a United Nations Aircraft that was shot down seven years ago in Angola. The UN wants to bring his body home so the UN is requesting the public’s assistance in locating his next of kin. “We would appreciate any leads that the public and the media could provide to help us find the family of Mr. Vicarme,” said Ambassador Lauro L. Baja Jr., Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations . The UN is looking for family members to properly identify the body through forensic DNA analysis. The ambassador explained that without the family, it would be impossible to identify Mr. Vicarme from among the human remains collected in the crash sites as the UN needs to collect DNA samples from them.

“Without their DNA, we regret that Mr. Vicarme would have to be left behind and buried with all the others in Angola,” he said. “This is something we would not like to happen as we want all three victims to be returned to their families and interred in the Philippines.”

Vicarme, along with two other Filipinos, were employees of Transafrik, a South African company that leased the two ill-fated C-130 cargo aircraft to the United Nations. Although the company notified the families of the victims, not every remain was identified since there were some that were never recovered.

I first learned of this from news.balita.ph and thought I’d pass it on to you. For a complete transcript of the news, click here.

The public can get in touch with the Office of United Nations and International Organizations at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila or directly to Second Secretary Elmer Cato of the Philippine Mission in New York with telephone number 212-764-1300 or by email at rpmission@gmail.com for any information on Mr. Vicarme.

Tags: United Nations, Bernabe Vicarme, Transafrik, Ambassador Lauro Baja Jr., Philippine Missions to the United Nations

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