Philippines sending search, rescue teams to Japan

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is sending search and rescue teams to Japan where a powerful earthquake followed by a tsunami has left hundreds dead or injured and countless others missing.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has organized teams for deployment to Japan along with a contingent from the Philippine National Red Cross.

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) also announced it would be sending an “elite” group of medical and surgery experts to Japan.

Valte said she couldn’t say yet when the NDRRMC-led teams would leave for Japan.

“But, again, once they are okay with our assistance, we will be ready to send our people to help in the (post disaster) efforts in Japan,” Valte said over government-run radio dzRB.

She said the Philippine embassy in Tokyo and the consulate in Osaka are working to ensure that Filipinos in Japan are safe and properly assisted.

She also said President Aquino has tasked Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario to ensure the safety and welfare of Filipinos and their families in Japan.

“They have already enlisted the help of the Filipino communities in trying to account for all our fellow Filipinos in Japan. They have given their hotlines to call once the telephone service begins to operate again. I understand that the Internet service is working so they set up accounts as means of communication,” Valte said.

“So far, there are no reports of (Filipino) casualties and we are hoping it will stay that way,” Valte said.

Medical experts mobilized

PMA president Dr. Oscar Tinio said his group’s emergency and disaster management committee has begun mobilizing experts for its humanitarian mission in Japan.

Tinio said PMA is now closely coordinating with the Japan Medical Association “to work out ways on how it can help as Japan strives to cope with the aftermath of the tragic event.”

Committee chair Dr. Antonio Cabigas has been instructed to mobilize volunteer specialists in the fields of surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, pediatrics, among others, who can be immediately sent to Japan.

The same committee, Tinio said, mobilized teams to address the medical needs of victims of tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” two years ago.

“The committee was tasked to mobilize our members nationwide to help address medical emergencies in times of disasters and emergencies,” he added.

“At this point, we in the private sector believe that it is time we do the same to Japan in the light of its current crisis. We are therefore proposing to our government the immediate creation of a joint Public-Private Sector Philippine Contingent on Health that we can send anytime to Japan,” he said.

Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo also said they are ready to dispatch medical personnel and divers to devastated areas in Japan.

“If our services will be tapped, the PCG should be able to extend assistance in the severely affected coastal areas of Japan,” Tamayo said.

He said the PCG may send a search and rescue vessel as well as expert divers and medical workers if ordered by Malacañang, or by its mother agency the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), or the NDRRMC.

“This would depend if the DOTC, NDRRMC or Malacañang would task the PCG to be part of the Philippine contingent to Japan to help in the overall rescue and rehabilitation effort,” he said.

He also said the PCG has a “time-honored partnership” with the Japanese Coast Guard (JCG) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

“For decades, the PCG and JCG have been conducting joint or combined exercises on maritime search and rescue, maritime environmental protection, maritime law enforcement and maritime security,” Tamayo said.

“The JCG has been sending their ships, aircraft and experts in support of such joint or combined training exercises,” Tamayo added.

He also said the PCG has immensely benefited from JICA’s human resources development program as well as from its donations, including a diving training pool and diving equipment. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Evelyn Macairan