Makati to send K-9 units to help in Yolanda retrieval ops

MANILA, Philippines - Makati City will be sending on Saturday teams from the Makati Rescue and the Philippine K-9 Search and Rescue Foundation (PH-K9) to Tacloban City to help in the retrieval of bodies still trapped under the rubble left by super typhoon Yolanda.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said the two search teams, each accompanied by a trained search dog, will leave on board a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane.

Binay said the deployment of the teams is intended to augment the ongoing local search and rescue operations conducted by various local and international search and rescue teams.

“I have high hopes that our rescue personnel and canines will be able to locate victims who are hidden from sight beneath the piles of rubble and debris,” Binay said.

Composing the teams are 16 rescue personnel, four from PH-K9 and 12 from Makati Rescue. They will bring PH-K9 Belgian Malinois 'Drena' and a German Shepherd search dog of a PH-K9 member named 'Ash.' 

Upon landing in Tacloban, they will be deployed to areas where their services are needed. They will also be bringing with them a vibrascope (a device with camera and microphone that can be inserted through small spaces into the debris), chainsaws, and other hydraulic equipment.

Earlier, the Makati Social Welfare Department (MSWD) deployed six personnel to Leyte and three to Samar who assisted in the distribution of relief goods. More MSWD staff will be deployed to help in the distribution of additional relief assistance from Makati to be shipped in the coming days. The city government also plans to send medical teams and post damage assessment teams consisting of engineers and architects.

Joint operations of the city government of Makati and the Office of the Vice President have also sent relief goods to 15 towns in Leyte, eight towns in Biliran, and 12 towns in Samar. The City Council previously approved a P50 million budget for the provision of relief assistance to the victims of super typhoon Yolanda.