PNRC READIES AID; RP SENDING TEAM TO MYANMAR
MANILA, MAY 9, 2008 (STAR) As the world continues to reel from news of an estimated 22,000 people killed and up to a million left homeless in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar, the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) is moving to help the victims.Sen. Richard Gordon, PNRC chairman and CEO, said in a statement yesterday that the Red Cross and other aid agencies were preparing to assist victims of the disaster, which the United Nations’ World Food Program estimates could affect up to a million people.
“This is because we all share a common dignity and a common hope. We must see beneath our skin color, our creed, our politics and other beliefs. Look beyond these and realize that we are all human beings sharing the same home,” Gordon said.
In line with the project, Gordon called on Filipinos to help the mission and alleviate the sufferings of the people of Myanmar in particular, and the whole of humanity in general.
“None of these would be possible without compassionate action from Filipino themselves. Essentially, the mission of the Red Cross is to help people help other people in need. Its mission is to alleviate human suffering. The Red Cross is hope and human dignity,” Gordon said.
The senator’s call coincided with Malacañang’s directive to send a 15-man humanitarian team to help rehabilitation work in Myanmar.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Arroyo has directed Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to send a medical contingent to Myanmar.
“I got word from the Department of Health that a 15-man team of doctors and assistants are being prepared,” Ermita said.
“They (health officials) sent an initial query (to Myanmar) as to the types of medicine that are most needed,” he said.
He said Duque was rushing preparations for the humanitarian contingent that is expected to leave today or tomorrow for Myanmar.
Romulo said the government is extending its sympathies to the people of Myanmar.
A house on fire
In the Senate, lawmakers unanimously approved a resolution expressing its sympathy to the people of Myanmar, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), upon the motion of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
“It is incumbent upon us to express our sympathies to the people of Myanmar and urge our government to show these sympathies in a more concrete manner,” Pimentel said.
At the same time, the minority leader urged the Arroyo government to express the country’s concern that the May 10 referendum for the approval of a new Constitution of Myanmar should be free so that the will of the people would be respected.
He made the suggestion in view of reports that Aung San Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders had been barred by the ruling military junta of Myanmar from participating in public discussions about the issues related to the proposed Constitution.
Pimentel said there was sufficient reason to support the position of the European Union, as well as the United Nations Security Council, that all the political players of Myanmar should be allowed to participate in the discussion of issues connected with the referendum to approve the Constitution of Myanmar.
He said that while the ruling junta should fulfill its commitment as an ASEAN member to restore democracy in Myanmar, “there is a lot of apprehension whether this will be realized.”
“The ruling junta apparently wants to make sure that a certain number of seats in the parliament should come from the ranks of the military,” Pimentel said.
“We would like to suggest that we express our concern that the process of the referendum in Myanmar should be free because, to the best of our information, there is no such freedom. People are being arrested when they speak out and there is no freedom of assembly that is guaranteed even during the period of the referendum,” Pimentel said.
He recalled even at the height of the authoritarian rule of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the country, he allowed public debates on the issues involved when there were amendments to the Constitution that had to be approved by the people in a national plebiscite.
Reacting to the reminder by some senators that the Philippines should refrain from interfering in the internal political affairs of another country, Pimentel said “the principle of non interference does not hold water when our neighbor’s house is on fire.”
Postpone referendum
Meanwhile, about 30 Filipino protesters demanded yesterday that Myanmar’s junta postpone this week’s planned constitutional referendum and allow the unrestricted entry of international relief following a devastating cyclone.
“While the people are so worried about survival in the midst of this disaster, the junta is too preoccupied thinking of how to pursue its referendum,” said Egoy Bans, spokesman for the Free Burma Coalition. About 30 protesters from the group marched outside the Myanmar Embassy in Manila.
“This is not the time for a political exercise. The population is very vulnerable and insecure,” Bans said.
He also called on Myanmar’s military rulers to open the borders of the tightly controlled country to international aid.
In addition, Bans expressed concern that authorities in Myanmar would give priority for aid distribution to communities considered loyal to the military, and would exclude opposition strongholds. He provided no details.
Critics say the constitution is meant to perpetuate military rule.
State radio said Saturday’s vote will be delayed until May 24 in 40 of 45 townships near the largest city, Yangon, and seven in the Irrawaddy delta areas that bore the worst of the storm.
The report indicated, however, that the balloting would be held in other areas as scheduled. –Paolo Romero, urea Calica, AP
DOH to send medical team to Myanmar Friday, May 9, 2008
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III will send a 15-man medical-surgical team experienced in disaster relief operations to calamity-stricken Myanmar.
“We sent the team to Indonesia during the 2005 (earthquake), then to Bangladesh and during the 2004 tsunami,” he said.
Duque said aside from giving medical and surgical services, the team would also help in psycho-social debriefing, environmental and water sanitation, disease surveillance, and health education.
“The team is a composite team of doctors, nurses and public health experts. They are mostly health emergency managers, surgeons, pediatricians, internists, infectious disease expert, nurses, psychosocial experts, surveillance officers, water and sanitation engineer, emergency medical technician and medical technologist,” he said.
“All team members are trained for multi-tasking in addition to administrative work.” – With Aurea Calica, Edree Estaura
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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