Gov’t to send troops to Myanmar

THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT will send soldiers, medical personnel, and search rescue and retrieval teams to Myanmar after it was hit by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that killed over 1,600 people, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

In a statement, the OCD said the team of 114 personnel will be sent to Myanmar on April 1 and will be deployed for two weeks to support those affected by the quake.

The 7.7-magnitude quake hit Myanmar on March 28, considered to be one of the biggest in the last century and has crippled airports, bridges and highway amid an ongoing civil war that has displaced millions, Reuters earlier reported.

The military government said on Sunday that the quake’s death toll has climbed to 1,644, with nine people dying in neighboring Thailand.

The Philippines will send 31 personnel from the Department of Health, 80 personnel consisting of light Urban Search Rescue teams from the Bureau of Fire Protection, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Metro Manila Development Authority, and Apex Mining Corp./First Gen-Energy Development Corp. search, rescue, and retrieval teams.

The team will also include two personnel from the OCD and Philippine Air Force Contingent Commander Lieutenant Colonel Erwin Diploma.

Myanmar had requested emergency search and rescue teams (with K9 or SAR dogs), medical assistance teams, medicines, medical equipment, emergency first aid kits, mobile generators, water sanitation kits, solar-powered lights, among other supplies, according to the OCD.

“We stand in solidarity with Myanmar during this difficult time,” Philippine Defense Secretary and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Chairman Gilberto Eduardo Gerardo C. Teodoro said in the same statement.

“The Philippines is ready to respond to the urgent needs of our neighbors, and we are mobilizing resources to provide assistance as quickly as possible.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez