FINALLY, RP MEDICAL TEAM FLIES TO SRI LANKA
Press Statement/4 January 2005

After being sidelined last January 1 on their scheduled trip, the 12-man medical/civic contingent finally flies tomorrow to Sri Lanka at 2:15 PM to help victims of tsunami and aid in the international relief operations ongoing in the island nation. The team will arrive in Colombo on January 6 at 12:20 AM

Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo expressed high hopes that the dispatch of the said team would help in alleviating the sufferings of thousands of victims.

The dispatch of a medical/civic team to Sri Lanka was done in compliance with the instructions of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in coordination with the Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Philippines H.E. Ariya Bandara Rekawa.

"Our team's main responsibility will be to provide medical assistance to victims and coordinate with other teams in the area," Dayrit said.

The health chief added that the Sri Lanka-bound contingent are disaster and trauma specialists who were deployed to Iraq and Quezon province during the relief operations.

The said DOH team will be deployed for a period of 10-15 days. The team, coming from various hospitals and LGUs, is led by Dr. Romeo Almazan Bituin, and is composed of Drs. Joseph Espinosa, Vilma dela Cruz, Luis Juan Arroyo, and Mike Lao.

Other members of the team include Ms Aida Cuadra, Ms. Maria Ivy Ocampo, Mr. Oliver Maat, Ms. Ruth Badic, Ms. Venus Cariño, Engr. Rodel Pineda, and Engr. Joselito Riego de Dios.

For his part, Secretary Romulo said "the Philippines joins the world in helping alleviate the sufferings of this catastrophe that has affected more lives than we could even begin to count. As we thanked the international community coming to the aid of the Philippines when Luzon was recently hit with typhoons, the Filipinos are pleased to assist the countries reeling from this monumental disaster."

H.E. Ambassador Rekawa also conveyed the heartfelt gratitude of the Sri Lankan Government and people to the Philippines for sending a team to help disaster victims in their country.