Inquirer medical mission flies to Villaba

FIRST RELIEF MISSION Inquirer correspondent Juan Escandor Jr. distributes relief in Villaba, Leyte. RICHARD A. REYES

VILLABA, Leyte—The medical corps of the Inquirer Team on Wednesday flew in by helicopter to Villaba Elementary School where hundreds of patients were waiting for medical aid.

The villagers said no medical group had ever visited this hard-to-reach community after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: “Haiyan”) smashed central Philippines on Nov. 8.

Vivian Relosa, 39, cradling her 3-year-old son John Jeric, was one of around a hundred patients waiting for her turn to be examined by the Inquirer’s partner, the Medical Team International composed of four foreign doctors.

Relosa said her son had been suffering from cold, cough and fever and had not been seen by a doctor.

She said it was the first time a medical mission came to the town on the western side of Tacloban City.

Nieves Versosa, 80, said she was suffering from headache and wanted to be examined by a doctor.

Relief operation

The Inquirer Team, in partnership with the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Foundation, also conducted a relief operation in Jordan village, 6 kilometers from the town center of Villaba, on Wednesday.

Panfilo Cobre Sr., the village chief, thanked the team for the truckload of relief supplies distributed to more than 500 families in the village.

The Inquirer Team also gave tents and blankets to several families whose houses were completely destroyed by the typhoon.

Earlier, the Inquirer Team airlifted to Tacloban City 3-year-old Shamcey Ann Quer who suffered from a tooth infection that spread to parts of her face.

Quer was treated and confined at the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation for observation.

Dr. Dan Diamond, leader of Medical Team International, said that when they heard Filipinos were hurting from Yolanda, they put together a team to assess the situation.

The team visited eight villages, he said.

Strong people

“The Filipino people are strong people and very resilient, and it is amazing how Filipinos get back on their feet,” Diamond said.

Diamond, who has practiced disaster medicine around the world, said he was very impressed.

“The Filipino people are so strong,” he added.

Diamond praised the typhoon survivors for doing a great job of getting back on their feet and helping each other.

He said the most common cases his team had encountered were respiratory illnesses and infected wounds.

He cited the case of an 11-year-old girl who broke her hip and suffered from too much pain, getting no relief for 11 days.

Team Inquirer facilitated the airlifting of the girl to Cebu last week. She is now recuperating in a hospital there.

Donors

The Inquirer thanks the following donors for their generosity: Lyceum of the Philippines University, BDO Philippines (Alba Romeo & Co.), NU SKIN Enterprises Philippines Inc., Unilab Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Eugenio Soberano, Lex Digital Corp., LRP Foundation, Philip Cu Unjieng, Tan Yan Kee Foundation, Aileen Corales, Francisco and Bendicta Ferreria, Raech Rimonte, Paul Bautista, Marcos Roces Jr., Abel Ulanday and Imee Alcantara.