Sulu evacuees treated to medical mission

Various government agencies and non-government organizations along with American medical personnel distributed relief goods and conducted a medical and dental mission for evacuees from the ongoing military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah in Sulu on Saturday.

More than 500 residents were treated in the medical mission under the Sulu Evacuee-Aid Mission (SEAM) conducted by volunteer doctors, dentists and nurses at the Kadday Mampallam Elementary School in Patikul town.

It was the second medical mission conducted by the composite group in Sulu.

The first SEAM was held last Oct. 10 in Indanan town, initiated by Presidential Assistant for Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi Affairs Amilbahar Amilasan with assistance from the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Peace Working Group-Sulu, and the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue.

Among those present were OES Assistant Secretary Severo Catura, Patikul Mayor Ismunlatip Suhuri, Provincial Administrator Don Loong, Prof. Sahi Udjah of the Peace Working Group, Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, Task Force Comet chief Brig. Gen. Ruben Rafael, and Col. Daniel Maxwell, head of the US medical team.

During the Patikul medical mission, Catura and PCSO assistant department manager Dr. Jose Bernardo Gochoco also pledged to assist the municipality in getting an ambulance and providing needed medicines for people in Sulu.

Amilasan said the SEAM is part of President Arroyo’s "sensitive response to the plight of our Muslims brothers affected by the ongoing military operations against suspected terrorists."

Last Tuesday, government forces arrested Istiada Oemar Sovie alias Amenah Toha, wife of JI terrorist Dulmatin.

Dulmatin and another JI member Umar, Patek, are believed to be sheltered by Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani.

Dulmatin and Patek were tagged as the mastermind in the Oct. 12, 2002 bombing in Bali, Indonesia that killed 202 people, mostly tourists.

The presence of US soldiers here is part of their humanitarian mission and to assist Philippine authorities in fighting terrorism, Catura said.

After the Balikatan exercises early this year, American soldiers also took part in a one-month humanitarian mission in Sulu, bringing medicines, books and computers, and building schoolhouses for residents.

Last year, a large contingent of American soldiers was also diverted from the Balikatan exercises to rescue hundreds of villagers who were trapped by the massive landslide in St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte. — Paolo Romero