PHL’s mission of compassion

Pinoy rescue, recovery, medical contingent rushes to Turkey following a deadly magnitude 7.8 quake

By Rex Anthony Naval

DESPITE working far from their regular area of operations, the Philippine contingent in quakebattered southern Turkey is now working as fast as they can to provide rescue, recovery and medical care to Turkish citizens affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated a big part of the Western Asian nation on February 6.

A nd while the Filipinos had yet to rescue any earthquake survivor as of February 15, the Philippine Emergency Medical Assistance Team (PEMAT) has so far treated a total of 168 Turkish patients as of February 14 (Turkey time). PEMAT is attached to the Philippine InterAgency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC), an 82-member team with the following personnel: 30 from the Department of Health, 33 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (21 from the Army’s hospital set up in the Adiyaman Octagon Bus Station, which has been in operation since February 10. On February 13, the PIAHC urban search and rescue (USAR) team retrieved two dead victims and recovered a severed human leg at “Sector N” of the southeastern city of Adiyaman.

Two more bodies were recovered by the USAR team in an apartment complex in the same vicinity on February 14. As of this writing, reports said the death toll following the tremor has exceeded a whopping 40,000.

Hoping to save lives

MEANWHILE, Filipino soldiers tapped to join the Philippine rescue contingent still hope to make a difference by rescuing Turkish nationals still trapped among the concrete shards and hulks of the buildings that collapsed in the quake.

A ir Force Major Erwen Diploma, PIAHC commander, gave this impression during an online interview arranged by the Office of Civil Defense on February 13. “ We will continue to perform our tasks safely and hopefully we will find live victims [with help from] local responders on the ground,” he said. Diploma said he hopes they can do this in the