The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday, July 22, responded to public inquiries regarding its visibility during the recent onslaught of heavy rains and flooding caused by the Tropical Storm “Crising” and southwest monsoon (habagat).

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the military was fully engaged in disaster response operations on the ground, despite concerns raised by some netizens on social media about its presence not being felt.

“We are closely coordinating different efforts with our counterparts from the government and non-government agencies,” Padilla said in a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Officer-in-Charge Asst. Sec. Bernardo Rafelito Alejandro IV said a total of 15,057 search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) units from the AFP were deployed since Crising and habagat began wreaking havoc last week.

Aside from that, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also coordinated for the deployment of 5,000 SRR units from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), 817 units from the Philippine National Police (PNP), and 27,773 units from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

There are also 1,600 trucks, nine fixed wing aircraft, and 28 rotary helicopters from the uniformed services that were placed on standby for humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations.

The NDRRMC has also activated its Inter-Agency Coordinating Cell (IACC) at the NDRRM Operations Center in Camp Aguinaldo, which serves as a central coordination unit for HADR operations.

“We are ready, along with all the 44 member-agencies of the NDRRMC, which are on red alert. Our search and rescue teams, transportation and relief goods, medical teams, and strategic transport assets from the Armed Forces are all prepared. The entire Office of Civil Defense is also on red alert,” Alejandro said in a separate press briefing.

The AFP asked for public understanding as it emphasized that some of the military personnel became typhoon victims, too, hence, the operations of some military camps, particularly in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, and Visayas, were affected.

“Every time that we have these calamities, we treat also those units that are in that area as possible victims. We have different actions on the ground on who would support who. We have pre-positioned HADR units, our SRR units in different areas frequented by these calamities are also mobilized,” Padilla said.

Even the soldiers guarding the remote features in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) were not spared by Crising.

However, the AFP said the military personnel guarding the nine outposts occupied by the Philippines in the WPS, specifically in the Kalayaan Island Group (Spratly Islands), remained in good condition.

The outposts are Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, Parola Island (Northeast Cay), Lawak (Nanshan) Island, Patag (Flat) Island, Likas (West York) Island, Kota (Loaita) Island, Panata Island (Lankiam Cay), and Rizal (Commodore) Reef.

“In our latest communication with our troops, including our nine features, they are fine. The sea has been rough, the winds have been above normal but the overall condition of the troops to include those on BRP Sierra Madre, they are safe and they are secured,” said AFP spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad.

The troops have enough food and other provisions until the next projected resupply mission, Trinidad assured. The last resupply mission was on June 20.

The number of Chinese vessels operating in the WPS is also expected to decrease due to the bad weather.

The latest monitoring of the AFP revealed there were 49 People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) vessels, China Coast Guard (CCG) ships, and maritime militia vessels in the WPS in June, marking the highest number of deployed Sino vessels in the said waters this year.

“But historically, because of weather disturbances, these numbers drastically drop. Even their ships seek shelter in areas not affected by bad weather. We expect that for this particular timeframe, the number of PLA-N ships, Coast Guard, and even the maritime militia would be less than the last report,” Trinidad said.