Medical team to return to PHL after helping Japan quake victims

After a successful mission, the Philippine medical assistance team sent to Japan to help victims of the March 11 quake and tsunami will return to the Philippines on Wednesday. Japanese Consul General Minister Motohiko Kato will welcome the team at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said. "The Government of Japan deeply appreciates the assistance extended by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines through the medical team," the Embassy said in a news release on its website. Composing the Philippine team were team leader Dr. Maria Paz Corrales; Dr. Aida Muncada; and Dr. Sharon Triunfo. Working with Japanese medical doctors and clinical psychologists, the Filipino team completed its mission in mobile medical assistance for disaster victims. Among the victims that the team helped were families of Filipino nationals in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. "They visited hospitals, evacuation centers and the houses in Iwate Prefecture (Ofunato city, Rikuzen-Takata city, Morioka city, Kuji city, Noda mura, Otsuchi cho, Kamaishi city) and Miyagi Prefecture (Kesen-numa city, Sendai city, Minami-Sanriku cho) and had psychosocial counseling etc. for around 200 Filipino women, their Japanese spouses and their children," the Embassy noted. It added the earthquake victims consulted Filipino doctors about their frightened experiences, feelings of loss of their loved ones, anxieties over disconnection to their families, difficulties in life after the disaster. "The doctors said they were able to conduct their counseling effectively, using their mother tongue, for treating victims' depressed moods and psychological trauma after the disaster," the Embassy said. The Japanese Embassy said the team was to pay a courtesy call on Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Kikuta Tuesday before heading home to the Philippines. - VVP, GMA News