Philippines sends rescue team to help search for Myanmar quake survivors
THE PHILIPPINES on Tuesday sent a team of soldiers and government doctors to help earthquake victims in Myanmar.
The first batch of 58 members of the humanitarian aid team, composed of 91 army and air force soldiers and people from the Office of Civil Defense and Bureau of Fire Protection, left Manila’s Villamor Air Base aboard two C-130 transport planes at midnight on Tuesday, the Philippine Air Force said in a statement.
The second batch, which also consists of staff from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Health and Environment departments, and private mining and energy companies, will follow on April 2.
They brought search and rescue equipment and medical supplies.
The team will stay in Myanmar, where the death toll from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on March 28 has topped 2,000, for two weeks.
“These personnel are ready to perform life-saving operations, provide medical assistance and deliver critical aid throughout the mission,” the air force said in the statement. “This mission affirms the Philippine government’s dedication to humanitarian assistance, reinforcing our nation’s commitment to swift disaster response and regional cooperation.”
In a separate statement, Human Rights Watch said Myanmar’s military junta should let humanitarian aid flow unimpeded into Naypyidaw, the capital.
“The junta needs to… ensure that humanitarian aid quickly reaches those whose lives are at risk in earthquake-affected areas,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.
Myanmar descended into turmoil after its military overthrew the civilian government in 2021, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into a civil war. State forces, pro-democracy and ethnic armed groups have engaged in hostilities that has driven more than 3 million Burmese people out of their homes, according to United Nations data.
“All sides must urgently allow space for humanitarian relief and ensure that aid workers can operate in safety,” Julie Isabel Bishop, UN special envoy on Myanmar, said in a statement published on the UN website on Monday.
“Continuing military operations in disaster-affected areas risks further loss of life and undermines the shared imperative to respond,” she added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
