ZAMBOANGA CITY, 7 April 2006 — A three-year-old Filipino girl suffering from anemia got a big help from four American soldiers stationed in the southern Philippines recently, her family and doctors said yesterday.
Donneth Silo was taken to the Zamboanga Medical Center (ZMC) here early last month from her hometown in Baliguian in nearby Zamboanga del Norte province after local doctors diagnosed her suffering respiratory distress.
Doctors at ZMC later found the girl to be suffering also from typhoid fever and pneumonia and that she badly needed the rare blood type RH negative.
“She was seen with respiratory distress, crackles in both lung fields and was grossly pale. She was admitted having typhoid fever, pneumonia and anemia, covered with ceftrizone,” said Dr. Ben Jason Caranay.
A search for the right donors ended soon after four American soldiers — David Bombard of the US Marines, Jeff Simpson of the US Navy, Michael Light and Robert Saiz of the US Army — came forward and donated blood to the girl. The soldiers are members of the US Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P), which is training Filipino troops in anti-terrorism in Zamboanga City.
They were brought to the ZMC by Frank Weston Thompson, of the JSOTF-P, medical team. “For the past week, we have been looking for blood donors with that type of blood, as she is RH negative, which is found mostly among Caucasians. Most Filipinos and other Asians are RH positive,” Caranay said.
“The blood transfusion was immediately set for Donneth, who is also found to have a global developmental delay and a congenital esotropia,” he said.
Silo’s parents, Ralph Deconti of Pennsylvania state in the United States, and Hilda Silo of Baliguian town, are living separate lives. The girl was brought to Zamboanga by her mother’s siblings, Rosary and Joe Silo.
A very thankful Linda Bumotal, the local Blood Bank chief, said: “We are proud of these American people who donated blood to help a stranger, and us here. We have long been looking for RH negative because it is very rare in the region.”
‘Winning Hearts and Minds’
American military presence in the country’s troubled south has turned out to be more of a civic campaign to win the “hearts and minds” of the people especially in strongholds of Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
It started in 2001 when Abu Sayyaf extremists were holding in the island-province of Basilan three American nationals hostage, along with several Filipino tourists and workers they seized from a resort in the southwestern province of Palawan.
While US special forces trained Filipino troops in fighting the terror group, military engineers went to build roads, bridges and schoolhouses in the island-province just 20 kilometers south of Zamboanga City.
The US Agency for International Develop-ment (USAID) also launched numerous livelihood and econonomic development projects in other poor Muslim provinces such as in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
On Tuesday, the new US ambassador to the Philippines, Kristie A. Kenney, visited Basilan to hand over to Philippine officials headed by Gov. Wahab Akbar two bridge projects funded through the USAID Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) and the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo).
GEM is a five-year initiative that began in September 2002. It undertakes a wide range of projects to increase economic productivity, and to contribute to attaining lasting peace in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao
In Zamboanga City, Kenney unveiled new USAID projects, including the building of two bridges in Zamboanga’s Sinunuc and Taguiti villages.
Once completed, the bridges will allow residents to more efficiently and cheaply transport farm produce, fish and other agricultural products to the markets, said Secretary Jesus Dureza, presidential adviser for the peace process, who welcomed the US envoy.
Kenney met with well-wishers and local officials led by Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat and her deputy, Maria Isabelle Climaco at the City Hall.
“I am really happy to be here. The people are so friendly,” Kenney said at a brief news conference where she pledged more development assistance not only to Zamboanga City but in other places in Mindanao.
Kenney told local officials that a US hospital ship will arrived in May to conduct free medical mission in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which comprises the provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.
US soldiers involved in humanitarian activities in Zamboanga City earlier donated relief goods to aid victims of the March 23 fire, which left thousands of people homeless.
Just early this year, the USAID donated books and other learning materials to the Culianan Learning Center in Zamboanga City. It was the latest elementary school to benefit from the Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills Project, a five-year flagship education initiative of the USAID.
Jon Linborg, USAID director for the Philippines, said the agency is carrying out a broad range of innovative programs in the Philippines to promote investment and good governance to stimulate economic growth and job creation needed to reduce poverty, especially in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
The USAID has provided over $220 million to the country "to reinforce the government’s efforts to secure a lasting peace and contribute to the equitable and sustainable development of Mindanao."
This year, the agency has allocated some $40 million in grants for Mindanao alone, Linborg said.
