Filipino peacekeepers from Liberia to be quarantined

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino peacekeepers from Ebola-stricken Liberia will be quarantined at the Armed Forces Peacekeeping Operations Center (PKOC) in Capas, Tarlac upon their return to the country this month.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr. said other soldiers assigned at the PKOC would be temporarily transferred to another office while the peacekeepers are undergoing medical checkup.

“I think they will be brought to the PKOC. We will prepare the place and we will move the soldiers assigned there so that the peacekeepers from Liberia can be isolated,” Catapang on Wednesday told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.

The PKOC is located in Camp O'Donnell, which also serves as the home of the Mechanized Infantry Division and Training and Doctrine Command.

Col. Roberto Ancan, chief of the Armed Forces Peacekeeping Operations Center, said the soldiers would be transferred to their satellite office in Camp Aguinaldo. He said the peacekeepers are scheduled to arrive within Nov. 10 to 14 via a chartered flight.

Ancan said members of the Philippine peacekeeping contingent in are still “doing well” as he expressed hopes that none of them contracted the deadly virus.

The government has decided to pullout its 110-strong peacekeeping contingent to Liberia because of the outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has swept through West Africa and has left about 4,900 persons dead.

Officials have given assurances that they are doing everything to prevent the entry of the virus in the Philippines.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council will be forming a new working group to establish protocols in the event that the deadly virus enters the country.