08 January 2014 - Philippine Ambassador to South Africa Constancio R. Vingno, Jr. welcomed back and thanked the team of Rescue South Africa returning from a humanitarian mission from the Philippines at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on 27 November 2013.

Rescue South Africa is a disaster response team that was deployed to the Philippines by the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

The team was deployed to the village of Abuyog, Leyte. It adopted a three-pronged approached involving the provision of emergency medical assistance, search-and-rescue, and assistance in repairing the roof of a hospital and a nearby college. Over the course of the week, the team was able to treat over 800 patients and performed surgical procedures, and helped repair the Abuyog General Hospital and Abuyog College. END