Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday ordered the dispatch of medical teams to earthquake-battered Haiti, where six Filipinos were missing, dpa reported. Arroyo also ordered the armed forces to put a peacekeeping force on standby in case the United Nations should request the deployment of additional troops to the Caribbean country. "It is our fervent wish that Haiti recovers quick and fully from this tragedy," she said. "The Filipino nation joins the international community in expressing sympathy and support to Haiti." An initial team of 20 nurses, water sanitation experts, psychiatrists, surgeons and anesthesiologists could be dispatch to Haiti as early as the weekend, said Carmencitta Banatin, director of the Health Emergency Management Staff of the Department of Health. "We really would like to send a team right away, but we want to assess the situation first," she said. "We want to know what is needed there, what equipment to bring." Three Filipino peacekeepers and one civilian UN employee from the Philippines were still believed trapped in the second floor of the collapsed Christopher Hotel, the headquarters of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Haitian capital. Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said two more Filipino migrant workers in Haiti were also missing and were believed to be trapped inside a supermarket.
