KING Charles III has expressed his “deepest and most heartfelt sympathy” to the families who have lost their loved ones during the recent natural disasters that struck the Philippines. The British Embassy in Manila on Tuesday shared the King’s message on X. Charles said that he and his wife, Camilla, “have been deeply concerned by the news of typhoons and floods that have affected the Philippines in recent weeks and are profoundly saddened to hear of further loss of life.” “I am well aware that the suffering has been compounded by the devastating effects of two earthquakes in October and our hearts go out to all those who are so cruelly affected by these catastrophic natural disasters,” he said. At least 76 people were killed when a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck Bogo City, Cebu, on Sept. 30. The king also paid “special tribute to the emergency services who have suffered their own tragic losses as they have assisted in the rescue efforts.” Six personnel of the Philippine Air Force died when their helicopter crashed in Agusan del Sur on Nov. 4 while on a humanitarian and disaster response mission following the onslaught of Typhoon Tino. “Our thoughts and continued prayers are with all who are enduring such appalling suffering at this time,” he said. The Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), expressed its sincere appreciation for the offers of humanitarian assistance from the international community for relief and recovery operations following the widespread destruction in Cebu and other parts of Central Philippines resulting from Typhoon Tino. “We are also deeply heartened by the many messages of sympathy and solidarity that we received from our international partners,” the DFA said in a statement on Nov. 7. “We welcome, in particular, the announcement of Timor-Leste, the newest member of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), to deploy 120 Timorese engineers and firefighters to assist in the cleaning and rehabilitation of affected areas,” the DFA added.