PH contingent returns from earthquake-hit Myanmar

The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) that was deployed to Myanmar following a devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake has returned to the Philippines.

The 89-man team arrived at the Villamor Air Base aboard a Philippine Air Force C-130 cargo aircraft past 11 p.m. on Sunday.

The PIAHC includes members from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Philippine Air Force, Philippine Army, Department of Health - Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Bureau of Fire Protection, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Emergency Response Team, Energy Development Corporation, and Apex Mining Co., Inc.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, who personally welcomed the contingent, thanked the PEMAT for providing medical services to the earthquake-hit Myanmar.

“You carried with you not only life-saving equipment and supplies but also the warmth of the Filipino spirit of Bayanihan: Ready to heal, to help, and to stand in solidarity with those in distress,” Herbosa said in a statement.

Also present in Villamor Air Base on Sunday night were Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., OCD administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr.

The DOH said that a group of experts from the Health Emergency Management Bureau (HEMB), National Center for Mental Health (NCMH), and East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) were deployed again to Yangon, Myanmar at the request of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to continuously provide emergency medical services, and mental health and psychosocial support to Filipinos there.

This group is part of the Rapid Response Team which also includes representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The first batch of the PIAHC left on April 1 for Myanmar, while the second batch followed the next day.

The PIAHC's Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team joined local and foreign rescuers in search for possible survivors, the OCD said.

The PEMAT meanwhile provided medical aid to Filipinos and treated Burmese patients at field and fixed hospitals.

Ivy Lozada, the team leader of DOH’s PEMAT 44, said that many Filipinos in Myanmar are still in need of medical assistance.

“Karamihan sa kanila natutulog pa rin sa labas. Like sa hospitals, ayaw nilang matulog sa loob ng mga wards. Doon sila sa parang open space,” she said in Bam Alegre’s report on Unang Balita on Monday. 

(Most of them are still sleeping outside. For instance, in hospitals, they don’t want to go inside the wards. Instead, they choose to stay in an open space.)

More than 3,000 people reportedly died in the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that hit Myanmar last March 28.

The Department of National Defense and the whole delegation will soon hold a meeting regarding the updates on the unaccounted Filipinos in Myanmar.

“We still have to make a full accounting. As far as I know, may mga na-identify na, but hindi pa nava-validate. So we have to wait for the validation at kung na-validate ito, ma-inform 'yung next of kin,” said Teodoro.

(We still have to make a full accounting. As far as I know, there were some who were already identified, but they are yet to be validated. So we have to wait for the validation and once they are validated, we will inform the next of kin.)

Two Filipinos were also confirmed dead by the DFA, while two others remain unaccounted for. —with a report from Vince Angelo Ferreras/KG/RSJ, GMA Integrated News