Philippines Sends Augmentation Teams to Japan, Bahrain

The Philippine government on Friday morning sent augmentation teams to assist the Philippine embassies in crisis-hit Japan and politically-tensioned Bahrain to ensure the safety of the Filipinos there, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

A two-man team headed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns Jose Brillantes and DFA Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs Executive Director Maynard Montealegre flew to Japan to help assess the situation on the ground and to revalidate the contingency plan to make it more efficient, the department said.

On the other hand, a team composed of DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) Executive Director Ricardo Endaya and DFA-OUMWA Principal Assistant Kristine Bautista left for Bahrain for the same purpose, it added.

"The Embassy and the Consulates also continue to maintain close contact with city and prefectural governments, and have full personnel complements to provide assistance," the DFA said.