Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 13) – The government will send relief supply instead of a rescue team to quake-hit Syria, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Monday.
“We were asked to prepare similar donated items like blankets, yun ang pinapa-prepare sa amin. Wala pong team sa Syria,” OCD assistant secretary Raffy Alejandro said a briefing.
[Translation: We were asked to prepare similar donated items like blankets. There will be no team sent to Syria.]
At a separate briefing, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief PGen Rodolfo Azurin said the PNP is ready to send more the 50 people to both Syria and Turkey, now known as Türkiye, if needed, only to be informed that the country will not send another team.
“As of yesterday, they decided na i-cancel na ‘yung pagpapadala kasi nandun na ang Philippine contingent na ang composition ay the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he said.
[Translation: As of yesterday, they decided to cancel the deployment because the Philippine contingent, whose composition is the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is already there.]
The Philippines sent an 85-man response team to Türkiye, days after the Feb. 6 quake to help in relief efforts.
At Monday’s briefing, Alejandro confirmed there would not be a second contingent to the West Asian country.
“Yesterday we got information from the Turkish government will no longer accept a second contingent coming from us,” he said. “Ang nasabi nila dahil because yung element ng time ay lumampas na — kokonti na lang yung nakukuhang live victims.”
[Translation: Yesterday we got information from the Turkish government will no longer accept a second contingent coming from us. They said it was because the time element has passed — there are fewer live victims being rescued.]
He added non-food donations will continue to be sent to the devastated nation.
Latest reports say the magnitude 7.8 quake killed more than 34,000 people. Rescue operations in rebel-held areas of Syria have ended, said volunteer organization Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets.
Meanwhile, Alejandro said it was too early to say if the Philippine team in Türkiye would extend its two-week mission.
Major challenges
At Monday’s briefing, Alfonso Danac, the leader of the Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team, said they faced few challenges on their fourth day in Adiyaman, a southeastern city.
“(A) major challenge is extreme weather. This is a challenge for the team (kasi) first time ma-expose sa extreme weather conditions. Hindi lang movement ang apektado, pati na rin kagamitan — mabilis ma-drain ang battery packs,” he said.
[Translation: A major challenge is extreme weather. This is a challenge for the team because it’s our first time to be exposed to these conditions. Our movement, as well as our equipment are affected — battery packs drain faster.]
Danac also noted the language barrier, but said there were volunteers who are helping them translate for patients.
“Of course we are also very mindful of the cultural sensitivity considering there are other ethnic groups as well as religious groups in this area. So ang ginagawa namin na kapag ang pasyente ay babae, babae din po ang tumitingin na duktor at nurse. Pag lalake, lalake po ang duktor at nurse na tumitingin sa pasyente,” he added.
[Translation: Of course we are also very mindful of the cultural sensitivity considering there are other ethnic groups as well as religious groups in this area. What we do is have female doctors attend to female patients, and the same goes for male patients.]
Danac said they have coordinated with the Department of Health after assessing needed medicine, and said Türkiye’s health ministry has been \” very supportive\” and visited the field hospital several times to let them know help would be extended if it was needed.
“Sila po’y very grateful sa ating mga kasamahan kasi nga po tayo pa lang ang first medical team sa lugar na ito na nagrespond sa kanila four days after the earthquake strike. So very grateful ang mga tao sa Adiyaman kung saan kami naka-assign,” he said.
[Translation: They are very grateful because we are the first medical team in this area four days after the earthquake. The people of Adiyaman, where we are assigned, are very grateful.]
