Philippine Embassy in Tokyo Welcomes RP Medical Assistance Team to NorthEast Japan
Amb. Manuel M. Lopez (6th from left) and Drs. Aida Muncada, Sharon Triunfo and Ma. Paz Corrales of the RP Medical Assistance Team (3rd, 4th and 5th from left) with Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, Japanese doctors and local volunteers.
Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez hosted a welcome reception at the Philippine Embassy, Tokyo on 29 June 2011 in honor of the Philippine Medical Assistance Team from the Department of Health (DOH) which was dispatched by the Philippine government on a two-week medical mission to Japan’s earthquake and tsunami-devastated Northeast (Tohoku) region.
The Philippine Medical Assistance Team, composed of Dr. Ma. Paz P. Corrales, Dr. Aida L. Muncada and Dr. Sharon J. Triunfo, departed Tokyo for Tohoku today to attend to the medical needs and provide psychological counselling and stress debriefing to disaster victims, particularly Filipino nationals and their families. They are joined in this undertaking by Japanese medical doctors, Japanese clinical psychologists, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) and local Filipino coordinators.
In his welcome remarks at the reception, Ambassador Lopez said he is proud of the competence of Filipino medical professionals, including the Filipino nurses and caregivers who remained in Japan to continue performing their duties after the Great East Japan Earthquake. He urged the team to provide assistance not only to Filipinos but also to Japanese nationals.
Speaking on behalf of the Japanese side, Director Takashi Katae of MOFA’s Second Southeast Asia Division noted that President Benigno S. Aquino III offered to send a medical team immediately after the earthquake. He conveyed Japan’s appreciation for the dispatch of the three Filipino doctors, and said he hopes to see closer collaboration between Japan and the Philippines in the medical field in the future.
The Filipino doctors will provide medical services in Kuji City, Noda Town, Miyako City, Yamada Town, Otsuchi Town, Kamaishi City, Ofunato City and Rikuzen-Takata City in Iwate Prefecture as well as Kessenuma City and Minami-Sanriku Town in Miyagi Prefecture. They are scheduled to return to Manila on 13 July 2011.
