UP helps out ‘Yolanda’-hit campuses

The University of the Philippines (UP) has sent medical and technical teams to its heavily damaged campuses in the Visayas region in the aftermath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

A Pahinungod medical team from UP Manila led by Dr. Eric Talens left Sunday to provide emergency medical assistance to faculty members, students, staffers and other people on the Palo, Leyte, campus.

Earlier, Dr. Racquel Fortun spearheaded a forensics team now working with the Department of Health, the International Red Cross and the Asia Foundation in handling the bodies of those killed in Leyte and Samar provinces.

In a statement, UP president Alfredo Pascual said the two campuses in Eastern Visayas were badly damaged when the typhoon hit on November 8.

UP Visayas Tacloban College has a population of 1,543 while the UP Manila School of Health Sciences in Palo, Leyte, has 209 people on campus.

The state university will also deploy a technical team of UP experts in civil engineering, architecture, urban planning and geohazard assessment.

The team, to be headed by former Architecture dean Dan Silvestre, will evaluate the damaged physical infrastructure and facilities of the Tacloban and Palo campuses for future rehabilitation.

“We will continue to work with the authorities on the ground to offer the services of our medical, forensics and technical experts in the areas that are not covered by other government agencies,” Pascual said.

The UP president added that no one was killed in the two campuses when these were struck by the supertyphoon.

“We will continue to seek and assist all the affected members of our academic community until we know everyone in need of assistance has been provided with aid,” he said.

Last week, Pascual ordered the heads of the UP campuses in Diliman, Manila, Baguio, Los Baños, Mindanao, Iloilo and Cebu to accommodate and waive requirements for affected students from the Tacloban campus who wanted to cross-register in their respective campuses for the second semester.

He said a number of students from Tacloban had already signed up to cross-register in Diliman, Manila, Cebu and Iloilo, while Los Baños has offered dormitory accommodation and living allowances to at least 100 cross-registrants.

On Nov. 14, UP Visayas Chancellor Rommel Espinosa sent a four-man reconnaissance team to check the Tacloban campus and bring money for the faculty and staff.

UP Manila School of Health Sciences dean Buddy Dastura also returned to Palo that day to assess and assist the campus’ residents.

Early last week, the state university organized a disaster relief effort under the guidance of UP vice president for public affairs Dr. Prospero de Vera. The relief effort accepted donations in cash and kind.

By the afternoon of Nov. 11, students, faculty and staffers in UP Diliman had already prepared 1,000 relief packs which were sent to Tacloban through a C-130 airplane of the Philippine Air Force.

The UP Diliman Student Council also donated several boxes of used clothes and other goods while the UP Los Baños campus dispatched a truckload of relief goods.

Pascual also thanked Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel for his P100,000 cash donation in addition to P100,000 worth of medicines.

“In the wake of this devastation, we are given an unparalleled chance to start again. When we rebuild our towns and cities, we can take the opportunity to make them better, smarter, more resilient and more sustainable,” Pascual said.

He also urged the UP community to help locate, reach out and help the students, faculty, staff and their families in the affected areas.