For surgery: Israelis to bring home 2 kids

CEBU, Philippines - The Israeli humanitarian mission in Cebu will bring home two kids with cleft-lip for surgery in their country tomorrow.

Rex Niño Lopez Recto, 9, and Yanny Sayson Millor, 11, both of Barangay Canagahan, San Remigio, Cebu will undergo the medical procedure for free.

Last week, a group of Israeli volunteers had fixed a water system in the mountain Barangay Bagtik in San Remigio. On their way back to Bogo City where they put up a mobile hospital and operation center, they passed by the two kids along the road in Barangay Canagahan.

The kids were brought in Bogo City for assessment of their condition but the Israeli decided to bring them to their country for surgery, said Capitol Information Officer Ethel Natera.

Former Bogo City mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III accompanied the kids yesterday to the Capitol where they were presented to Gov. Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.

Recto was also accompanied by his guardian and grandmother, Cresenciana Lopez, while Millor was with his mother, Jocelyn.

“Nalipay ko kay ma-operahan nako,” a teary-eyed Recto said.

Natera said that the 23-year-old Mark Spencer Vistar will act as guardian of the two kids in Israel.

Vistar is the son of Canagahan Barangay Captain Jaime Vistar, the president of the Association of Barangay Councils in San Remigio.

Natera said that the Israeli government facilitated the processing of the travel documents of the two kids and Vistar.

Necessary documents were also processed yesterday at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7.

The Israeli mission is set to hand over today the established hospital in Bogo City to German and Austrian non-government organizations as they set to leave Cebu tomorrow.

The Israeli government, through its Defense Forces, will leave most of its equipment, including tents, to the provincial government at the end of its humanitarian mission here.

The 150-strong Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been in Cebu after the typhoon Yolanda conducting medical missions and civil engineering works in operations it dubbed as “Operation Islands of Hope.”

IDF medical personnel have treated a thousand patients in typhoon-stricken areas in Northern Cebu.— FPL (FREEMAN)