PHL medical team for Japan quake victims welcomed in Tokyo

The Philippine medical team tasked to help victims of the March 11 magnitude-9 quake in Japan received a warm welcome at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo. The Embassy said Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez hosted on June 29 a welcome reception for the team at the Philippine Embassy. "The Philippine Medical Assistance Team, composed of Dr. Ma. Paz Corrales, Dr. Aida Muncada and Dr. Sharon Triunfo, departed Tokyo for Tohoku (on July 1) to attend to the medical needs and provide psychological counselling and stress debriefing to disaster victims, particularly Filipino nationals and their families," the Embassy said in a news release posted early Tuesday on its website. In his welcome remarks at the reception, 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. Lopez urged the team to provide assistance not only to Filipinos but also to Japanese nationals. Director Takashi Katae of MOFA’s Second Southeast Asia Division, speaking for the Japanese side, noted President Benigno Aquino III offered to send a medical team immediately after the "(Katae) 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 Embassy said. The Embassy said the team was joined by Japanese medical doctors, Japanese clinical psychologists, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) and local Filipino coordinators. The Philippine government dispatched the Medical Assistance Team from the Department of Health (DOH) on a two-week medical mission to Japan’s earthquake and tsunami-devastated Northeast (Tohoku) region. 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 July 13. - VVP, GMA News