The Department of National Defense on Wednesday announced that it has already deployed a Filipino team that was tapped to augment the search and rescue operations in Turkey.
The team will also bring with it at least 10,000 sets of blankets for the magnitude 7.8 quake-hit victims.
Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the team is composed of 87 military and medical personnel, including healthcare workers and engineers.
The team departed Manila bound for Turkey around 9:55 p.m. on Wednesday to start their humanitarian assistance mission for the quake-affected communities and residents in the country.
The DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines tapped personnel from the Philippine Army’s 525th Engineering Battalion who are trained to conduct urban search and rescue missions.
Meantime, personnel from the 505th search and rescue group of the Philippine Air Force will be bringing their air assets to conduct speedy rescue operations.
Galvez earlier said the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will lend their equipment such as the life-detector, body cameras and portable oxygenator and others to make sure the Philippine rescue delegation could fulfill its given task.
In a separate interview, AFP Chief Andres Centino said the rescue team will be composed of 21 Philippine Army personnel and 12 from Philippine Air Force.
“They are all trained for search and rescue operations. They are knowledgeable in collapse structures rescue. They have the training and the equipment to do this special task,” Centino said.
He added that the AFP personnel have been deployed in some parts of the Philippines for civil-military operations and have augmented the local humanitarian assistance and disaster response efforts during disasters and emergencies.
The DND chief, meanwhile, lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s swift decision to help Turkey in this “time of need,” adding that it could be the best way to return the country’s favor.
Galvez cited the unwavering support of the Turkish government when the Philippines needed it the most.
“We really extend sympathy to the Turkish government. We know that the Turkish government is very kind to us and they have helped much in the Bangsamoro, they have huge humanitarian assistance to us, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, they’ve helped us a lot with our vaccines and we really consider them as a very close ally,” Galvez said.
He stressed that all personnel deployed in Turkey are best equipped with experience and foreign deployments as well as can handle the sub-zero weather condition while working.
“These were the same people also have experiences in humanitarian assistance during the Intensity 9 earthquake in Hiroshima, Japan,” Galvez said.
“We are confident that our colleagues here are very healthy and ready to do their humanitarian mission. In order to really preserve and to ensure the safety of our personnel, we asked our defense attache in Turkey to provide them with winter clothing,” he added.
Galvez said the DND has already coordinated with Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to provide proper clothing to the Filipino rescuers, including 10,000 sets of blankets to be distributed to the affected Turkish residents.
The death toll due to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that jolted Turkey and Syria early Monday has already reached 7,926 and according to the World Health Organization, at least 5,894 deaths in Turkey and 2,000 in Syria were logged as of 8 February.
Meantime, the Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday assured affected Filipinos in earthquake-hit areas in Turkey and Syria that the government’s help is on its way.
In a press briefing, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Tess Daza said that the Philippine Embassy in Ankara is doing its best to provide assistance to the 248 Filipinos in the quake-affected provinces.
“We want to reassure that the Embassy will do its job. It just needs a little bit of space to be able to actually do what needs to be done,” Daza said.