PH aid team searches Myanmar hotel ruins
Rescue teams work to evacuate residents trapped under the rubble of the collapsed building “Sky Villa Condominium development” in Mandalay on March 30, 2025. Photo by Sai Aung Main/Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine earthquake aid team sent to Myanmar after the earthquake last week joined local and foreign rescuers to search for possible survivors at a collapsed hotel in the northern part of Naypyitaw.
In an update on Saturday, the Department of Health (DOH) said all Philippine personnel were in good health and involved in rescue or retrieval operations in the area around the capital of Naypyitaw.
The Philippine team, consisting of 91 members, were not involved in the search for the four Filipinos who remained missing in the city of Mandalay, 245 kilometers from the Myanmarese capital.
READ: Philippines deploys search and rescue team to quake-hit Myanmar
Ariel Nepomuceno, chief of the defense department’s Office of Civil Defense, said they wanted to be involved in the search for the Filipinos at the collapsed Sky Villa apartment block in Mandalay, but they were assigned to the area around Naypyitaw.
The search for the missing Filipinos and other earthquake victims in Mandalay are being conducted by rescuers from Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia and China, who were already at the site within the critical 72-hour window after the earthquake struck on March 28.
Instead, the Philippine team helped local rescuers and contingents from Vietnam and Indonesia in the search for possible survivors at the collapsed Jade City Hotel, a northern suburb of Naypyitaw.
Survivors still possible
Before the Philippine team arrived, rescuers were able to pull a hotel worker alive from the rubble, but most teams were finding only bodies days after the earthquake.
“Despite challenges such as limited communication and extreme heat, the team has effectively managed operations by utilizing local interpreters to facilitate communication with patients. Continuous coordination meetings have been held to enhance teamwork and operational efficiency,” the DOH said.
The team, led by Air Force Lt. Col. Erwen Diploma, arrived in Naypyitaw on April 1 and April 2 and immediately prepared for deployment to the affected communities.
Starting April 1, the team set up a fixed hospital near a Buddhist temple, which provided free medical aid, although most unrelated to the earthquake.
“The hospital has already seen significant demand for medical services, with a queue forming shortly after it opened,” the DOH said.
On April 3, team members were deployed to the Lewe township hospital, south of the capital where they conducted 17 medical consultations, including six cases of general medicine, six surgical cases, four orthopedic cases and one obstetric case.
