Eastmincom Welcomes Back-up Teams to Combat Covid-19 in Davao City

NSFA, Panacan, Davao City – The Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) welcomed on Monday, November 23, 2020, five medical teams from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) General Headquarters which were sent to augment the medical frontliners of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Covid-19 in combatting the pandemic in Davao City.

The medical teams from the AFP Health Service Command composed of a military doctor, two nurses, and two corpsmen arrived at the Old Airport, Sasa in Davao City and were welcomed by Eastmincom officers, SPMC officials, and the City Government’s representatives together with Retired PLt. Col. Mario Galendez of the Public Safety Security Command Center (PSSCC).

Some members of the teams had been deployed in Cebu City during the surge of Covid-19 cases there from June 28 until late August this year and had been instrumental in helping the city cut down its cases by 60%.

Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) Officer-in-Charge Dr. Ricardo Audan expressed his appreciation for the AFP’s gesture, saying that this has been the answer to their request to augment their staff especially that recruiting additional medical frontliners nowadays has become a challenge.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Jose C. Faustino, Jr., Eastmincom Commander, expressed his support to the medical teams from the AFP General Headquarters as they will help in the efforts of the City Government in implementing measures to curb the worrying number of rising cases in the City.

Lt. Gen. Faustino reiterated that the Command continues to be an active partner of the different emergency response agencies in dealing with the health crisis.

“Together with the personnel from the AFP General Headquarters, Eastmincom marches forward in helping the government address the Covid-19 pandemic. We continue to provide troops in the frontlines with an unwavering passion to make sure that our forces are visible in every aspect of the health response,” he stressed.

“Since day one, our troops have been manning the quarantine checkpoints, providing transportation services, and assisting quarantine facilities and will continue to do so to see to it that our medical frontliners are not alone in this battle,” Lt. Gen. Faustino added.

AFP has been on standby and preparing deployable troops to support any cities or provinces of the country that might need its assistance in addressing the pandemic.

Source: Public Information Office, Eastern Mindanao Command, AFP