US, Phl set up Operation Pacific Angel 2013

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – The United States and the Philippines are finalizing plans to conduct a humanitarian assistance mission known as Operation Pacific Angel, with its kick-off event scheduled March 4 in this capital city of Negros Oriental.

About 80 members of the U.S. military, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and a number of local non-governmental organizations, led by the Oriental Negros Children’s Advocacy Network (ONCAN), will be participating in the mission to be carried out in at least five areas of the province from March 4 to 9.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila, in a news release, also said Operation Pacific Angel 2013 will cover medical, dental, optometry and engineering programs as well as various subject-matter expert exchanges.

ONCAN head Marrietta Jambora on Friday said the mission’s activities will include the repair of three classrooms, namely, the Tugawe Elementary School in Dauin town, the Bio-os Elementary School in Amlan and the Pamplona Elementary School in Pamplona.

Jambora said ONCAN sought free internal and external humanitarian and disaster relief assistance for Negros Oriental as early as August last year following two major calamities that struck the province, tropical storm Sendong in December 2011 and the magnitude-6.9 earthquake on February 6, 2012.

The US Embassy-Manila news release further said Operation Pacific Angel, which is now on its 6th year, is a joint and combined humanitarian assistance led by Pacific Air Forces.

“The experience gained through participation in this mission can be applied during future humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts,” the news release added.

During the previous Pacific Angel in the Philippines in 2012, more than 8,500 people in Albay province of the Bicol Region received medical, dental, and optometry care. Hundreds more were the beneficiaries of subject-matter expert exchanges, such as sessions on women’s health, oral hygiene and water sanitation.

Four additional Pacific Angel missions are scheduled in the Asia Pacific region this year: In Indonesia (April 22 to 26); Vietnam (June 10 to 14); Sri Lanka (August 5 to 10); and Cambodia (September 9 to 14). (FREEMAN)