MANILA (UCAN): The Philippines deployed a 91-member Philippine Inter-agency Humanitarian Contingent [PIAHC] search and rescue team to earthquake-hit Myanmar on April 1. Led by Lt. Col. Erwen Diploma, it departed from Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
The team includes personnel from the army, air force, fire and civil defense members, as well as urban development, environment and medical specialists.
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China on March 28 [Sunday Examiner, April 6].
“We have the capability and technical equipment, alongside our experienced rescuers. We ask for our fellow countrymen’s prayers for our success in Myanmar,” Diploma said.
He said they were well-equipped and ready, having previous experience with similar rescue efforts in quake-hit Turkey in February 2023.
Health secretary, Teodoro Herbosa, expressed confidence that the 32-member team from the Department of Health “would once again demonstrate the Philippines’ expertise in disaster medicine.”
Undersecretary, Ariel Nepomuceno, the administrator at the Office of Civil Defense, said, “This mission exemplifies our commitment to ‘One ASEAN, One Response’.”
Dr. Ma. Ivy Lozada, the medical team leader, said the mission is important to her “being a survivor of the world’s strongest typhoon, Haiyan, in 2013” that killed over 6,000 in the central Philippines.
“I was a survivor of [Super Typhoon] Haiyan [Yolanda], so this is one way of showing gratitude to those who helped us during that time,” Lozada said in a video statement on April 1.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
The Filipino health experts have been part of emergency medical teams certified by the World Health Organisation for international deployment.
The team will stay in Myanmar for 18 days providing minor medical and surgical procedures, psychosocial services, acute medical care, life support, trauma management, pharmaceutical provisions, isolation facilities for those who need it, and referral to those patients who need a higher level of treatment.
Caritas Philippines said it “stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar during this difficult time.”
In a statement, the organisation said, “We offer our prayers for everyone, especially the vulnerable and marginalized communities, and our colleagues at Caritas Myanmar, who are most affected by the recent earthquake.”
Charles Cardinal Bo of Yangon, president of the Myanmar Bishops’ Conference, reportedly said that they “need everything,” including a ceasefire by all armed groups in the war-torn country.
“The people need food, shelter, medicine, and all lifesaving materials.… More than anything, our people need peace, not the churning anxiety triggered by the multidimensional crisis,” Cardinal Bo told Vatican News.
