Philippines sends quake response team to assist Myanmar - UCA News (2025)

The Philippines has deployed its first contingent of search and rescue teams along with humanitarian aid and medical supplies to earthquake affected Myanmar.

The 91-member Philippine Inter-agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) led by Lt. Col. Erwen Diploma departed on April 1 from the Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

The team includes personnel from the army, air force, fire and civil defense members, as well as urban development, environment and medical specialists.

“We have the capability and technical equipment, alongside our experienced rescuers. We ask for our fellow countrymen's prayers for our success in Myanmar,” said Diploma.

He said they were well-equipped and ready, having previous experience of similar rescue efforts in quake-hit Turkey in Feb. 2023.

Speaking at the sending-off ceremony at the airbase, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno, who is the administrator at the Office of Civil Defense, said, “This mission exemplifies our commitment to 'One ASEAN, One Response'.”

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa expressed confidence that the 32-member team from the Department of Health “would once again demonstrate the Philippines' expertise in disaster medicine.”

The Filipino health experts have been part of emergency medical teams certified by the World Health Organization for international deployment.

Dr. Ma. Ivy Lozada, the medical team leader, said this mission is important to her “being a survivor of the world’s strongest typhoon Haiyan in 2013” that killed over 6,000 in the central Philippines.

“I was a survivor of Haiyan, so this is one way of showing gratitude to those who helped us during that time,” Lozada said in a video statement on April 1.

She said her team is ready to set up a camp and deliver within 24-hour their medical services to affected communities in Myanmar.

The team will stay in Myanmar for 18 days providing minor medical and surgical procedures, psychosocial services, acute medical care, life support, trauma management, pharmaceutical provisions, isolation facilities for those who need it, and referral to those patients who need a higher level of treatment.

“We are asking for prayers for our safety in providing services to the people in Myanmar,” Lozada said.

Caritas Philippines, the humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said it “stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar during this difficult time.”

“We offer our prayers for everyone, especially the vulnerable and marginalized communities, and our colleagues at Caritas Myanmar, who are most affected by the recent earthquake,” it said in a statement to the media.

As of April 1, the official death toll from Myanmar’s massive earthquake had neared 3,000 and international aid organizations had started sending help.

Cardinal Charles Bo, president of the Myanmar Bishops’ Conference, reportedly said that they “need everything,” including a ceasefire by all armed groups in the war-torn country.

“The people need food, shelter, medicine, and all lifesaving materials.… More than anything, our people need peace, not the churning anxiety triggered by the multidimensional crisis,” Bo told Vatican News.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China on March 28.

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