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“Our shared histories with the Philippines go a long way back. Friendship is not just about the good times. Friendship is also about the bad times, too,” Lt. Col. Paul Barta told the Inquirer.

The 16 countries on the council are the Philippines, Australia, United States, Japan, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Sweden, Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand, Spain, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel.

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‘Starting point’

The Philippines and China have been embroiled in a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) for decades, with tensions rising in January after Manila took their dispute to the United Nations for arbitration.

Asked at a news conference about China’s absence from the council, Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino said the 16 countries were a “starting point.”

“We expect that there are foreign militaries that want to take advantage of the MNCC. We will welcome all the support that we will be getting, specifically for the MNCC, all the military support,” Batino said.

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The Israeli Defense Force has a composite team of medical personnel, engineers and search-and-rescue personnel, according to Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Menashe Bar-On.

Israel has also dispatched an advanced mobile hospital with 100 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies, which will be based in Bago, Cebu province, to attend to the medical needs of typhoon survivors.

The Australian government has also sent a hospital ship, which has already served hundreds of survivors, some of whom sustained severe injuries that needed surgeries, Barta said.

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Seven C-130s from the United States, Australia and Japan and several foreign helicopters have been flying relief missions with others standing by “for immediate deployment if necessary,” Bautista added.

US Lt. Gen. John Wissler, head of the US military contingent, said that after Yolanda struck Eastern Visayas, “the situation on the ground was chaotic but would be chaotic in any part of the world because of the tremendous devastation.”

He said coordination with the Philippine government allowed the foreign countries wanting to help to hit the ground running when they arrived in the typhoon-hit areas.

“It was not a happy scene by any stretch, but the force that came on the ground was ready to be employed quickly,” Wissler said.

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