LGUs rush to the aid of Yolanda victims

MANILA, Philippines - Local government units (LGUs) are rushing to the aid of victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Samar and Leyte.

The Davao City government is sending a second 55-man team to help in the search and retrieval operations in hard-hit Tacloban City.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte deployed last Saturday the first batch composed of personnel from Davao City’s 911 Central Emergency Response Team, doctors, nurses, and search and retrieval experts.

Duterte also sent mobile medical equipment, including ambulances and medicine, needed for the medical mission in Tacloban. 

Bulacan is sending a 54-man medical team to coastal towns in Leyte and Samar still unreached by humanitarian groups and government agencies. 

Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado said the medical team, which will leave on Sunday, will be composed of 24 doctors and 24 nurses from the 21 towns and three cities of Bulacan, along with six medical specialists from the Bulacan Medical Center.

The first batch of medics and rehabilitation experts from the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance Relief Team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao left for the Visayas yesterday to help victims of the monster typhoon.

Laisa Alamia, regional executive secretary, said the group, led by physician Pancho Cruz, is bringing thousands of food packs, medicine and other non-food relief supplies for the residents of Tacloban City.

Pampanga Vice Gov. Dennis Pineda yesterday led a mission to help survivors of the disaster in Tacloban City and elsewhere in Leyte.

Pineda, the acting governor as her mother, Gov. Lilia Pineda, left the country on Tuesday, was accompanied by at least 85 people, including personnel from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

The Pampanga contingent brought with them medicine, food, and water which the typhoon victims badly need.

Aside from relief goods, Quezon Gov. David Suarez said his province is sending doctors, nurses and social workers as well as skilled workers such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and heavy equipment operators to help badly hit areas in the Visayas.

“It’s better that we are the ones giving assistance than needing it, and for the past four years, God has blessed us with perfect weather. It’s our turn to let our brothers in the Visayas feel the love and concern of our province,” Suarez said.

The Social Action Center of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro City has partnered with the city government in calling for donations for the victims of Yolanda in the Visayas.

Fr. Nathan Lerio, parish priest of the Mt. Carmel Parish, said the campaign would be in the name of the city and the parish when donations are sent to the affected areas.

“We must connect and collaborate in a spirit of charity,” Lerio said. – Edith Regalado, Dino Balabo, John Unson, Ric Sapnu, Michelle Zoleta, Gerry Lee Gorit