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Calbayog: A mayor waited five years in vain for Filipino politicians to make good on a promise to build a badly needed health clinic in the far-flung, impoverished city of Calbayog on central Samar island.
US Navy construction units helped local troops build it in 30 days. They arrived weeks ahead of the hospital ship USNS Mercy, which visited impoverished Calbayog for the second time Saturday after treating thousands of people for free in 1987.
Gentle diplomacy
The Mercy's gentle diplomacy has won hearts in the Philippines, where the US military has been providing combat training and weapons to the underfunded military since 2002 to stop the poor Southeast Asian country from continuing to be a breeding ground for terrorists and extremist ideologies.
Wrapping up a monthlong medical and civic mission in the Philippines - the first stop in a five-nation Asia-Pacific humanitarian tour - the Mercy's staff, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and other American officials were given a rousing tribute Saturday in Calbayog.
Hundreds of school students lined roads, yelling and waving small US and Philippine flags as Kenney's convoy passed by. A local army brass band welcomed her at the airport and cultural dancers regaled the Americans in two farewell receptions.
Kenney got out of her van, shaking the hands of well-wishers. She inaugurated a nine-room health centre, which Mayor Mel Sarmiento said will boost a government campaign against tropical diseases, dengue and tuberculosis.
Calbayog has one public and three private hospitals, but its six government doctors are overwhelmed by the poor, who make up nearly half of the 164,000 residents, he said.
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