CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City—The AFP joined other government agency officials in welcoming the Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent (PIAHC) to Turkiye on February 28 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The PIAHC was deployed in Turkiye on February 8 to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit the country.
The team was composed of eighty-two members: twelve from the 505th Search and Rescue Group of the Philippine Air Force, twenty-one from the 525th Engineer Combat Battalion of the Philippine Army, nine from the Metro Manila Development Authority, eight from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, thirty from the Department of Health, and two from the Office of Civil Defense.
They conducted urban search and rescue in Adiyaman City, Turkiye for more than 2 weeks. The USAR team concluded its activities on 24 February 2023 and prepared for demobilization on 25 February 2023.
During their deployment, they assessed 36 buildings and retrieved six cadavers for the whole duration of their search and retrieval operations.
In addition, the emergency medical assistance team catered to 1,022 ambulatory cases and referrals of cases requiring hospitalization.
NDRRMC Chairman & Department of National Defense OIC, Senior USec Carlito Galvez Jr; USec Jesus Domingo of the DFA; USec Nestor Santiago of DOH; USec Ariel F Nepomuceno of OCD; CSAFP, General Andres Centino; ASec Raffy Alejandro of OCD; MMDA Chairman Romando Artes; and Turkish Ambassador Niyazi Eyren Akyol welcomed the contingent. ///(Photos by TSg Obinque/PAO, AFP)
