UKRAINE President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday to send Filipino mental health workers to Ukraine to help ensure the welfare and the mental health of their soldiers amid the crisis in their country.
In his meeting with President Marcos at the Malacañan Palace, President Zelenskyy told President Marcos that they are in need of more mental health workers for their soldiers and defenders who are the forefront of the crisis that their country is facing.
“Thanks, you mentioned about humanitarian possibilities especially for medicine and like I said to you, especially, psychological mental health and etc., – army. So, you understand how many people need their help when they come back, they can’t lose in the families,” Zelenskyy said.
“It’s difficult for them — to study again,” he added.
For his part, President Marcos told the Ukrainian leader that the Philippines can offer them help by sending Filipino mental health workers for their soldiers amid the crises in their country.
“That is something that I think we are able to offer,” President Marcos told Zelenskyy, referring to Filipino mental health workers after the Ukrainian President emphasized the need of more mental health workers in their country.
President Marcos stressed that “the Philippines is quite well-known in healthcare in terms of providing assistance,” which is part of the country’s commitment to the United Nations (UN) for the peacekeeping process.
“I am happy to do all that we can to make sure that we can help especially the civilians and the innocents that are involved in the war. This is something that comes naturally to the Philippines so this will be something that we could pursue,” he added.
President Zelenskyy arrived in Manila Sunday evening for a one-day working visit after his appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He arrived at the Malacañang Palace before 9:00 am on Monday where he met with President Marcos.
The diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Ukraine span 32 years since it was formally established on April 7, 1992.
In 2022, Ukraine ranked as the 90th trading partner of the Philippines, the 119th export market and 76th import source. The total trade between the countries amounted USD16.9 million with export valued at USD1.49 million and imports at USD15.41 million.
Ukraine served as a second home to nearly 200 Filipinos. But the figure went down to 25, who are mostly married to Ukrainians who chose to be with their families amid the ongoing war with Russia.
