Canadian military advance team lands on Panay Island

From the Manila Bulletin (Nov 14): Canadian military advance team lands on Panay Island



THE CANADIANS COME TO PANAY’S AID – Canada has dispatched the Canadian Armed Force’s Disaster Response Team in a humanitarian mission to come to the aid of survivors of the super typhoon Yolanda which ravaged parts of Panay Island. (Tara Yap)

Foreign aid for survivors of category-five super -typhoon Yolanda which ravaged parts of Panay island last November 8, has come with the presence of a Disaster Assistance Response team from the Canadian Armed Forces.

The 43-man team, headed by its commander, Major Andrew Starkey, landed at Iloilo Airport yesterday.

Starkey said they came on a humanitarian mission bringing food, water, medicine, and equipment.

“We’re the advance party,” Starkey said. “We’re here to set up and get established.”

The team will initially plot out particular areas on the island where the team will focus its attention. To recall, the northern parts of Panay Island, particularly northern Iloilo and Capiz provinces, were the most heavily devastated by the super typhoon. Aklan and Antique provinces were also badly hit.

Starkey said another group, about 100 others also from the Canadian Armed Forces, will be coming in at a later date.

The Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), formed in June, 1966, is a unique organization created to deploy to a crisis situation ranging from natural disasters to complex humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world. The military team, which responds to requests for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, deploys quickly into a crisis area, bridging the gap until members of the international community arrive to provide long-term help.

Starkey yesterday said his team particularly specializes in medical care and water purification.

Meanwhile, Department of Social Welfare and Development regional director for Western Visayas, Evelyn Macapobre said over P10-million worth of relief goods have already been distributed to super typhoon Yolanda survivors in the region.

She said as of Novembre 13, some 46,000 family packs have been distributed to victims in highly devastated areas of Panay Island particularly northern Iloilo and Capiz province.

Each family pack, consisting of three kilos of rice, six noodles and seven canned goods, is good for a family of five, can last for a maximum of two days.

Macapobre urged for more volunteers to repack relief goods and hasten deliveryof these to typhoon victims.

While majority of these relief goods are transported on board government trucks, some are airlifted via helicopter.

Brigadier General Arnold Quiapo, commander of the Philippine Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade, said the priority for airlift operations are coastal and mountainous villages that cannot be reached by boats or trucks.

The relief goods have been sent to Iloilo and Capiz as well as Aklan, Antique and Negros Occidental provinces.

Various non-government organizations have also been conducting their own relief operations and have been delivering food and water to Yolanda’s victims directly.

http://www.mb.com.ph/canadian-military-advance-team-lands-on-panay-island/