Singapore donates medical supplies to Samar

BASEY, Philippines—Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam is confident that the country will bounce back following the massive devastation caused by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in the Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013.

“The reason we are here is to see for ourselves the impact of Typhoon Haiyan on the lives and livelihood of the communities living here, and I will say [that] looking around, driving here, I’m very impressed by the resiliency of the Filipino people,” he said.

The Singaporean president was here to lead the turnover of medical supplies and equipment to Basey District Hospital, which was destroyed at the height of Yolanda.

Tan is the first head of state to visit Samar province, which also suffered the brunt of Yolanda. Basey and Marabut towns were among the worst-hit towns in Samar.

Aside from a handful of members from the Presidential Security Group and Tan’s own security personnel, about 230 policemen from the Basey police and Samar Police Provincial Office based in Catbalogan City were assigned to guard the visiting Singaporean president.

“He is a president. That is why we have very tight security measures,” said Senior Supt. Roel Acidre, Samar police director.

Samar, particularly Basey, was once a hotbed of the communist armed group, the New People’s Army, which military officials claim to have been “neutralized.”

Tan arrived in Basey at  2:10 p.m. on Saturday. He left at 2:47 p.m.

He and his wife, Mary, were met by Samar officials, led by Gov. Sharee Ann Tan and Basey Mayor Igmedio “Junji” Ponferrada at Basey District Hospital in Barangay (village) Loyo in this town.

Former Sen. Richard Gordon and Gwendolyn Pang, chair and secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, welcomed the president.

“Of course, we are honored to be visited by him and we are very much grateful for the donations for our hospital here in Basey,” Governor Tan said.

The 25-bed Basey District Hospital is being maintained by the provincial government, which was destroyed during the onslaught of Yolanda.

Several of its equipment were destroyed, said Dr. Rutchie Igos, hospital chief.

In his brief statement to the media, President Tan said he went to Basey and Tacloban City in Leyte province to personally see the devastation caused by Yolanda.

Tan turned over medical supplies and equipment to the officials of Basey District Hospital. At least P6 million was needed to repair the two hospital buildings damaged by Yolanda.

“The effort we are doing in Basey District Hospital is one of the rehabilitation efforts that Singapore is very happy to help [in],” he said.

“You can see that the hospital was extremely affected by the typhoon. The roofs were blown off. We’ll reconstruct a new roof,” he added.

President Tan said the donation made by his country to the Philippines, coursed through the Singapore Red Cross, was an indication of the “kinship” of the two nations.

During his visit to the country, President Tan announced that his country would contribute $7 million Singaporean dollars to the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts of the national government.

Regional Health Director Jose Lacuna said they needed about P500 million to repair several hospitals that sustained damage due to Yolanda.