MANILA — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Monday that Myanmar has stopped its search and rescue operations and that it will now begin retrieval operations for victims of an earthquake that struck last March 28.

Regarding the Filipinos still missing due to the quake, the OCD said it is still coordinating with Myanmar's government to confirm their status.

"'Yung ating ipinadalang contingent team, hindi natin kontrolado kung saang site tayo papupuntahin ng Myanmar. So 'yung site na pinuntahan natin ay ibang site ito sa Myanmar... pero 'yung ating mga nawawalang  kababayan — 'yung apat na nawawalang kababayan, nasa Mandalay sila at ibang contingent team naman ang nagko-conduct ng search and rescue doon," OCD spokesperson Director Chris Noel Bendijo said in an interview with TeleRadyo Serbisyo's Johnson Ikwento Mo.

However, Bendijo said that the Philippines has a pending request to Myanmar to let the Filipino contingent team transfer to Mandalay.

"To be fair naman, may mangilan-ngilan na part ng ating contingent team na pinayagan pumunta doon sa Mandalay para magconduct ng assessment at para kausapin na rin 'yung mga contingent rescue teams," he said.

"Gayunpaman, hindi pa tayo napapayagan na tayo mismo ang magconduct ng mismong search and rescue or ng retrieval operations sa Mandalay na site," he added.

Bendijo said that aside from the contingent team made up of 89 personnel, a group from the National Bureau of Investigation also went to Myanmar to help in conducting forensics analysis on the retrieved bodies.