General Andres Centino, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), presented to President Duterte on Monday night, Jan. 17, updates on the military’s on-going humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations in Visayas and Mindanao following the destruction of typhoon “Odette” last month.
Centino, who attended the “Talk to the People” public address via video teleconference, said 9,079 military personnel were currently deployed in Mimaropa (Region 4B), Western Visayas (Region 6), Central Visayas (Region 7), Northern Mindanao (region 10), and Caraga (Region 13) to conduct relief missions.
Meanwhile, 28 naval assets, 30 aircraft, and 769 land assets from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, and Philippine Army were utilized for the transportation of relief goods and other essential equipment.
“Our personnel were immediately deployed to help in the prevention, mitigation, and response operations before, during, and after the typhoon to assist in the delivery and transport of relief goods, supplies, equipment, and personnel in the affected areas,” Centino said.
So far, a total fo 522,675 kilos of relief goods and equipment were transported via air travel, 4.1 million kilos were ferried via sea, and 4.9 million kilos were transported via land travel.
About 2,100 stranded individuals were also escorted by the military back to their communities using military assets.
Newly acquired assets such as the Black Hawk helicopters, the BRP Jose Rizal ship, and KM250 engineering equipment were also used in the transport, rapid damage assessment, and clearing operations, the military chief noted.
Meanwhile, the AFP’s “Mobile Kitchen” has served meals to 24,925 families in Cebu while carpentry teams were sent to repair damaged houses. The presidential yacht, BRP Ang Pangulo, has also served 1,614 patients in Siargao after it was converted to a floating hospital.
“While we have increased the deployment of our personnel in typhoon-affected areas, we assure the President that we still have sufficient forces deployed in other parts of the country to perform the mandate of the AFP to secure our communities from insurgents and terrorists,” Centino stressed.
He cited the neutralization of Menandro Villanueva alias “Bok,” the commander of the National Operational Command and Secretary of the Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee of the New People’s Army (NPA) in a military operation in Davao de Oro last January 5; and the death of Narodin Hassan alias “Andot,” the pinpointed leader of the Daulah Islamiyah (DI) group responsible for the January 11 bombing of a Mindanao Star Bus unit in Aleosan, North Cotabato that killed a five-year-old boy and wounded six others.
In return, Duterte lauded Centino and the entire AFP for their service to the country amid the pandemic.
“I would like to commend and salute the AFP for their toil. It is a toil to be there helping everybody, with the added feather on the cap – neutralizing communist leaders,” Duterte said.
“Sinasabi nila si Duterte inuuna ang mga sundalo. Kita mo naman ang trabaho ng sundalo. Utility workers itong mga sundalo sa bagyo, baha, sunog, landslide, away kanila iyan (They say Duterte always prioritizes the soldiers. You can just see the work of a soldier. These soldiers are like utility workers, they are there during typhoon, flood, fire, landslide, even war),” the President continued.
“Salamat (Thank you) for all of the achievements so far that you have gathered. It is a never ending job for you at hanggang ngayon, nagpapasalamat ang mga tao pati ako (the people, including me, thank all of you). Keep up the good work. You have my snappy salute,” he concluded.