Manila loses contact with Roxas, Gazmin in Leyte

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines—Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who flew to Leyte to oversee relief efforts there, could not be reached by their mobile phones since 9 a.m. Friday.

“I have talked to someone in the area with a satellite phone and I sent him over to the location of Secretary Gazmin and Secretary Roxas. Hopefully we can establish a contact with them the soonest possible time,” Eduardo del Rosario, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

He declined to say when he last communicated with them however.

“Maybe they communicated with somebody else at 12 noon or whatever. So I cannot say the exact time because I may not be the right person to answer that,” he said.