Five days after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, the Philippine inter-agency response team deployed to Ankara conducted a “hasty search” operation on Saturday, Feb. 11, to find survivors beneath the rubbles of collapsed buildings.

Hasty search operation refers to a fast-paced methodological process of searching for victims or signs of life in an assigned area, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.

So far, the response team has checked eight out of the 15 collapsed structures in the southern province of Adiyaman, a business district in Turkiye, said Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, OCD deputy administrator for operations.

“They were able to check eight buildings kasi ‘yan ang na-assign sa kanila (because that’s what was assigned to them). Rapid search na ang ginagawa, nagmarkings na sila (They have started rapid search, they conducted markings) to look for possible victims or survivors,” Alejandro said in a radio interview with dzBB.

“Wala pang significant in terms of accomplishment but nag-umpisa na sila (There are no significant accomplishments yet but they have started already),” he added.

Marking pertains to the process of checking structures for survivors and putting identifying marks to inform other responders that the structure has been checked, or if it is prone to hazard.

The contingent is working on rotation where a SAR team is deployed every two hours. Meanwhile, emergency medical teams (EMTs) have set up a field hospital where they would bring a survivor they would locate for immediate medical intervention.

Alejandro said one of the biggest obstacles for the Philippine response team is the cold weather because it is winter time in Turkiye.

“In high spirits sila although malamig talaga kasi winter doon but kaya naman (it is really cold because it’s winter there but they can bear it). Nakahanda sila at may dala silang winter clothing (They are prepared and they have winter clothing),” he stated.

The special mission of the team will last for two weeks, and another week will be allotted for their departure. Alejandro said the team is expected to come back to the Philippines by Feb. 27.

The OCD is studying the deployment of a second batch of responders that would replace the first team.

Meanwhile, the OCD is waiting for the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) whether or not to deploy a separate response team to Syria.

“Wala pa tayong feedback from DFA so antayin na lang natin ang decision or recommendation ng DFA (We have no feedback from DFA yet so we will wait for the decision of recommendation of the DFA),” Alejandro said.