Samahang Operasyon Sagip in close coordination with network members, Council for Health and Development (CHD), Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) and the Health Student Action (HSA) successfully kicked off its “SOS Summer Health Mission” last April 17-20, 2015 through the conduct of a medical and dental mission in the two island barangays of Himyangan and Lamingaw in Villareal Western Samar. The “Summer Health Mission” is a series of medical and dental missions which part of SOS’s continuing support to families affected by disasters in Eastern Visayas.
SOS actively joined in the two-day protest activities on November 7 and 8, 2014 to commemorate the destruction caused by Typhoon Yolanda and to hold the Aquino government to account for its ineptness and criminal negligence for the lives loss and continuing injustice and misery faced by the people, a year after the disaster.
Sixteen SOS members and volunteers from Manila travelled to Tacloban to join the protest celebration and express their solidarity to the people of Eastern Visayas.
In a Special Gathering and Photo Exhibit on April 4, 2014, Samahang Operasyong Sagip gathered together the more than 100 volunteers and donors who actively supported the relief, medical and psycho-social missions conducted in 84 barangays in the 23 towns of Eastern Visayas to hep more than 13,139 families and 8, 892 patients.
The Special Gathering served as an important occasion for Ms. Marissa Cabaljao of the People’s Surge Alliance to share on the situation of Eastern Visayas after the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda and for the SOS President, Rosalinda Tablang to present the relief and medical assistance efforts to help the affected communities and families in Eastern Visayas.
When Typhoon Yolanda left the country, it left a trail of devastation. It swept away loved ones, homes and the source of income of many Filipinos, especially in hard hit areas of Leyte and Samar. Despite the vast amounts and different kinds of international and local aid given, the national government’s reaction has been slow. Now, three months after the disaster, not much has changed.
Barangay Canlampay, for example, is a farming community in Carigara, Leyte.
True to its pledge, the Samahang Operasyong Sagip (SOS) continues to serve victims of Typhoon Yolanda. Paving past the cold and rain, the 4th SOS team goes through bridges engulfed by overflowing rivers. The 4th SOS medical mission, scheduled from January 17-21, 2014, will be conducted in Carigara, Leyte and neighboring municipalities.
The stormy weather in Leyte and Samar have made matters worse for victims of Typhoon Yolanda, as basic necessities such as food, water, presence of electricity, livelihood and a decent house still pose as daily problems.