U.S. Embassy Photo Release
July 16, 2000

 

 

USS Peleliu Touches Thousands of Lives with Humanitarian Projects in Philippines

 

 

 

 

            After spending one month in the Philippines, the USS Peleliu left the country last week to continue its multi-country goodwill mission, which is called “Pacific Partnership.”  During its visit to the Philippines, the crew of the U.S. Navy ship worked with multiple partners to complete humanitarian projects in the Cotabato City area, on Jolo Island, on Sitangkai Island, and in the Bicol Region.  The ship also visited the Port of Manila.

 

            The USS Peleliu and its partners provided more than 44,000 patient services during free medical clinics, conducted 142 surgeries onboard the ship, treated 1,700 animals with veterinary care, and donated 80 pallets of humanitarian supplies such as clothes, toys, food, and medical supplies to local communities.  Pictured above, a U.S. Navy doctor smilingly demonstrates to a young child how to stick out her tongue so her throat can be checked during a free medical clinic offered in the Bicol Region.

 

            "The American people are committed to working with our friends and partners in the Philippines,” says Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney.  “I’m proud that the United States and the Philippines share such a close working relationship, and that we are able to support each other during difficult times, such as in the aftermath of natural disasters.  That is what friends do for each other, and that is what the Pacific Partnership mission demonstrated.”

 

            In conjunction with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, U.S. Sailors from the USS Peleliu also built and improved schools, hospitals, emergency shelters, and other public buildings. Examples of the construction projects completed during the USS Peleliu’s “Pacific Partnership” mission are the completion of 36 homes in Daraga, Albay for families left homeless by the 2006 typhoons; the construction of a kindergarten building at the Datu Andong School in Cotobato; clearing thousands of tons of dirt and debris from a portion of the Tagas River in Tabaco City, Albay as part of a  flood control effort to prevent the riverbanks from overflowing and flooding nearby communities; replanting trees on the slopes of Mayon Volcano to assist in mudslide prevention; repairing evacuation center comfort rooms; installing emergency generators in local hospitals and fixing damage from typhoons; building hundreds of desks and chairs for students in local schools in Cotabato and Jolo; and installing rainwater collection systems, repairing damage, and building new walls and ceilings for local schools in Jolo.

 

            Pictured above, children watch as American and Philippine Sailors work together to paint their school in Jolo.  "Our Sailors are sad to leave their friends and partners in the Philippines, but proud to have been able to provide assistance through the Pacific Partnership mission," said Captain Bruce Stewart, Pacific Partnership mission commander.  "On behalf of the U.S. Navy, I'd like to thank the people of the Philippines for welcoming us so warmly.  I hope we were able to demonstrate our long-standing ties and respect for the Filipino people through this humanitarian mission, and we look forward to our next visit."

 

            Pacific Partnership is a unique humanitarian mission that brings together U.S. Military personnel not only with host nation military medical personnel, but also with medical and engineering specialists from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), private charitable groups, and third-country military medical personnel.  For this deployment, USS Peleliu was configured with special medical equipment and a robust multi-specialized medical team of uniformed and civilian health care providers to provide a range of services ashore as well as on board the ship. 

 

            The four-month deployment of the USS Peleliu reflects the longstanding ties between our two countries, and reflects American compassion for the people of the Western Pacific region with whom Americans share common bonds.  The American people and U.S. Navy are committed to working with our partners to assist people in need of humanitarian outreach.  The USS Peleliu is now visiting Vietnam and then will continue on to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Marshall Islands.
 
            For more information about the Pacific Partnership deployment, visit the Internet at http://www.cpf.navy.mil/news_images/Peleliu/index.html.

           
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