Government to spend P 2.7 to rebuild health facilities in Marawi

By APD Writer Melo M. Acuna

**MANILA, July 31(APD) – ** Philippine Health Secretary Paulyn Rosell-Ubial said the government will spend at least P 2.7 billion to rebuild health facilities, from the DOH-run Amai Pakpak Medical Center and health centers within Marawi City which has been the site of intense armed conflict since May 23 this year.

There is one city health office which attends to out-patients along with 16 barangay (village) health centers from 96 villages in the city.

Secretary Ubial added efforts to reach the trapped people in Marawi City is hampered by strict security measures adopted by the Philippine military.

Speaking before a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) and Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), Secretary Ubial said while her instructions to her staff to extend assistance to the affected non-combatants, she has also cautioned everyone not to put their lives at risk.

“The government hospital, Amai Pakpak Medical Center with an authorized bed capacity of 175 is partially operational and has 50 patients where we do emergency operations including Ceasarian section,” Secretary Ubial said.

She added doctors work on shifts from three to four days.

While she said there are Manila and

Visayas-based doctors willing to help, she has discouraged them from extending volunteer service in Marawi and Iligan cties because of their difficulty to speak and understand the local language.

Secretary Ubial said they have enough supplies for the medical requirements of Marawi City residents and those in evacuation centers in Iligan City.

“Coming from a city that has seen three months of heavy fighting with heavy weaponry provoked the displacement of some 400,000 individuals and undetermined deaths and caused enormous suffering,” thus said Dr. Jose A. B. Amigo, health coordinator of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Philippines.

He said the suffering of any family wehose house has been bombed is a traumatic experience and for the displaced, having to abandon one’s place and sleep in crowded evacuation centers may be comparable with the experience of residents from Mossul in northern Iraq.

However, he said the working relations between the government and the ICRC is much better.

In a related development, Secretary Ubial said a team from the National Center for Mental Health will fly to Mindanao to assist medical practitioners engaged in some mental health concerns from among the evacuees.

“Mental health cases have been referred to our hospital in Cagayan de Oro City as it is the only medical facility that can provide in-patient care,” she added.

She confirmed two cases were reported to the Department of Health.

A follow-up with the National Center for Mental Health revealed a seven-man team will leave tomorrow for Mindanao.

They are part of a quick response team known as Mental Health and Psycholosocial Support.

Both Secretary Ubial and Dr. Amigo said human remains will be treated with respect for their dignity and that dead persons should be identified and if possible, reunited with their families.

Secretary Ubial added it will be very hard to identify the dead so they get DNA profile of the casualties for possible matching with the nearest of kin in the near future.

Over at the Presidential Palace, Brig. General Restituto Padilla, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported 491 members of the Maute Group have been killed in the fighting which began last May 23.

Forty-five civilians have been killed with 114 soldiers and policemen killed in action.

The government and civil society groups rescued 1,724 individuals.

“The current operation inside Marawi City is ongoing and the focus is particularly ina reas where quite a number of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive device are still present,” Padilla said.

He added the unexploded ordnance and IEDs have slowed their operations to clear buildings at the main battle area.

“This is to ensure that upon the return of residents sometime in the future, we will not experience the complexities that occurred in Cambodia and in areas of Vietnam wherein after the way, many unexploded ordnance affected lives,” Padilla added.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)