“The Philippines condemns in the strongest terms this disturbing act of terror perpetrated by extremists against innocent men, women and children in Barcelona,” said Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano in a statement.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Catalonia and all of Spain and the rest of the world as we fight this common scourge.”
According to reports from the Philippine Honorary Consul in Barcelona, the terrorist attack on Thursday involved a vehicle that plowed through pedestrians in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas tourist district.
The DFA did not release the names of the four members of the Irish family of Filipino descent, but said the Philippine Honorary Consulate went to the hospital to check on them.
Honorary Consul Jordi Puig Roches reported that the mother and her daughter have been released from the hospital but that the father and his son are still under observation and are being assisted by the Irish Honorary Consul there.
The Philippine Embassy in Madrid and the Honorary Consulate in Barcelona have been in touch with authorities and leaders of the Filipino Community to make sure that the 20,000 other Filipino residents of the northeastern Spanish city are safe.
Cayetano has called on the more than 10 million Filipinos abroad to exercise more vigilance in the wake of terrorist incidents all over the world. (PNA)