By Brian Jules Campued
The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) on Friday continued to assist in rescue and medical operations in Myanmar as the Southeast Asian nation grapples from the devastation of a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake.
According to an update by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the members of PIAHC were deployed in various areas to provide support to other foreign and local responders, especially in locating victims trapped in the rubble.
The Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team—composed of responders from the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Indonesia—was sent to the remains of Jade City Hotel to retrieve victims from the collapsed entertainment building in Naypyitaw.
The Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT) has also set up a Type 1 Fixed Hospital near Bomingaung Temple to augment increasing demand for medical services from affected communities.
Another PEMAT Type 1 Field Hospital was launched in Pyinmana on Wednesday, delivering critical health services to about 94 patients “including 68 for general medicine, 20 for surgical issues, and two each for pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and orthopedic cases.”
Meanwhile, OCD Administrator Usec. Ariel Nepomuceno asked for prayers as authorities have yet to find the four Filipinos believed to be trapped in the rubble of Sky Villa in Mandalay.
“We really wanted our humanitarian contingent in Myanmar to be the ones to locate our kababayans… However, we must adhere to the directives of Myanmar authorities and follow their operational plans,” Nepomuceno said in a statement Saturday.
The Civil Defense chief, likewise, assured that the Philippine government is working with foreign authorities to locate the missing Filipinos as USAR teams from Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia, and China are already deployed to the Sky Villa site.
“The Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent remains committed to supporting affected communities in Myanmar and will provide further updates as operations continue,” the OCD stated.
The Philippine Embassy in Yangon earlier announced that a team from the National Bureau of Investigation’s Disaster Victim Identification Division (NBI-DVID) will travel to Myanmar to “secure tissue samples collected from unidentified remains recovered from the Sky Villa site.”
“We continue to exert all possible efforts to account for the four missing Filipinos and to provide support and necessary assistance to all affected members of the Filipino community during this challenging time,” the Embassy said in a statement.
The 89-member Philippine contingent arrived in two batches on April 1 and 2, and are scheduled to return to the Philippines on April 12.
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