The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has launched an aerial search and rescue mission to hasten the operation to locate the missing 14-member crew of the sunken Liberty 5 off Mindoro waters a week after the sea tragedy.
Lieutenant Colonel Aristedes Galang, PAF spokesperson, said on Friday, July 3, that military air assets continue to fly over the waters of Cape Calavite in Occidental Mindoro to assist rescuers from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
The PAF has been helping the PCG in locating the Filipino fishermen who went missing after their boat collided with a Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel, MV Vienna Wood, on Saturday, June 27 off the coast of Mamburao town.
Galang said PAF's Huey II helicopter from the 505th Search and Rescue Group and Cessna 208B from the 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing have also been flying over Paluan and Mamburao since June 29.
The operations, however, have been hampered by inclement weather.
The Philippine Navy and the Philippine Army's 76th Infantry Division have also helped in the search and rescue operations.
Earlier, Commodore Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, said there was no sighting of survivors of the ill-fated vessel.
The crew of the Hong Kong vessel was put in hot water after they supposedly failed to launch its own rescue mission moments after the collision.
Malacanang earlier appealed to the public not to politicize the incident as it vowed to resolve the matter under Philippine laws.