More relief aid come via Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - With Cebu serving as base for relief operations, more than 15 aircrafts from different countries arrived yesterday at the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base, bringing tons of relief goods and hundreds of rescue and medical volunteers.

First to arrive were three C-130s  from Korea carrying 41 search and rescue volunteers.

Korean Consul Chin Hyun Yong, though, worried about the delay in sending their volunteers to  Tacloban City .

The volunteers arrived past 9 a.m. and were expected to leave for Tacloban at 11:30 a.m. But they were still at the air base by noon.

The Korean rescue volunteers reportedly underwent an inspection, with their passports were still checked and stamped by the Bureau of  Immigration, which set up a desk at the airbase.

“If we’re delayed, we may not be able to land in Tacloban,” Chin said.

This, as the airport in Tacloban can now hardly accommodate the number of aircrafts going there.

Last Thursday, two aircrafts from Korea carrying relief goods also arrived in Cebu.

Chin said that aside from search and rescue teams sent by the Korean Government, non-government organizations are also sending teams for relief operations in the Visayas.

A  C-130 from New Delhi, India also arrived at the airbase yesterday morning and was  carrying almost 20 tons of food, tents, beddings, medicines and other necessities for the typhoon victims.

Indian Defense Attaché Veneet McCarty said they would leave it to the Philippine Government where and how to distribute the relief goods.

He said their government is ready to bring more assistance, adding that the Indian Government may also send search and rescue teams if needed.

Sandeep Singh Jaggi, secretary to the Indian ambassador to the Philippines, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sent a letter to President Benigno C. Aquino III expressing sympathy.

“We did this on our own. Nobody requested us,” Jaggi said of their government’s help to the Philippines.

A team of volunteers from Germany also arrived yesterday, carrying water purifiers and a mobile water-testing laboratory, which they would bring to the affected areas in Northern Cebu.

The German Red Cross also brought 50 tons of relief goods.  –/RHM (FREEMAN)