BEING an archipelagic nation, the Philippines needs at least one hospital ship to serve the medical requirements and emergency cases of the members of the uniformed services whose place of work is at sea – the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Philippine National Police. The floating hospital can also serve local fishermen and residents in far-flung coastal areas who might need medical attention, and will be an indispensable component in any rescue and relief operations during natural disasters.
The need for this facility was aired recently by former senator Gregorio Honasan and Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino.
Honasan, a former Army officer, said the Armed Forces modernization program should include the acquisition of military hospital ships that can be rapidly deployed not only in times of war, but also to support government’s disaster relief and humanitarian operations during peacetime.
“Considering that we are an archipelagic nation extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, military hospital ships would be a wise and practical investment,” Honasan, one-time chair of the Senate committee on national defense, said in a statement.
‘Considering also that the World Risk Index has ranked the Philippines as the most disaster-prone country… providing the nation with at least one all-purpose hospital ship is a must.’
“Our initial suggestion is for three military hospital ships — one each to be based in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao — ready to provide life-saving mobile emergency medical services,” Honasan said, adding that these floating hospitals should be operated and maintained by the military can form part of the country’s overall disaster readiness.
Senator Tolentino, at a national convention of nurses in Manila, said his dream is for the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard to have a floating hospital, even if a small one.
“The floating hospital can serve medical emergencies in the high seas, such as attending to sick or injured soldiers and fisherfolk, and as first responders to island communities and coastal areas hit by calamities,” he said.
A case in point, the senator said, is fisherman Robert Mondeñedo, one of the two fishers who figured in a hit-and-run incident involving a foreign commercial vessel and a small fishing boat in the West Philippine Sea last week. He noted that it took hours before Mondeñedo was brought to a medical facility after he was rescued by the Coast Guard.
He also cited the case a few weeks ago of a sick soldier who had to be evacuated from BRP Sierra Madre, the rusty warship that serves as a Philippine Navy outpost in Ayungin Shoal
Hospital ships have become regular components of floating assets of the navies of developed economies, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and China. Other countries such as Brazil, Peru, and Indonesia also have them. Each ship is equipped with a helicopter deck capable of landing large military helicopters. They also have side ports to take on patients at sea.
“The hospital ships should be capable of swift mobilization and coastal operations… other countries are designing military hospital ships with 60 beds and 18 intensive care unit beds, and with provisions for operating suites, a blood bank, and 100 medical personnel,” Honasan said.
In the last five years alone, Congress has earmarked P121 billion to support the military’s modernization projects, including the procurement of new warships, fighter aircraft, helicopter gunships, early warning air surveillance radars, and batteries of shore-based, anti-ship supersonic cruise missiles.
With the current volatility of the peace and security situation in the South China Sea, engendered by conflicting claims by China and several other countries including the Philippines in shoals and islets in that part of the sea, the AFP modernization has become a priority that cannot be delayed.
Considering also that the World Risk Index has ranked the Philippines as the most disaster-prone country, followed by Indonesia and India, providing the nation with at least one all-purpose hospital ship is a must.
