The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deployed soldiers to assist in rescue and relief operations following the magnitude 7.4 earthquake in Davao Oriental and nearby provinces on Friday, Oct. 10.

In an interview at Camp Aguinaldo, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the directive came directly from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who ordered the AFP to immediately help affected communities.

“Right away, our troops were immediately deployed. First of all, they are ready to conduct rescue and retrieval operations, and they are also there to assist the OCD in assessing the damage caused by the earthquake,” he told reporters, although the exact number of deployed military personnel was not immediately known.

The AFP’s engineer units, which are trained and equipped for disaster response, were also placed on standby in the affected areas to help clear debris, restore access routes, and provide logistical support to local government units.

The AFP chief said the military is waiting for complete reports from the field on any structural damage to its facilities in Mindanao.

“As of now, we are still awaiting reports from our ground units. But the initial information we have is that our troops have already been mobilized and are ready to help our kababayans,” he said.

Brawner also noted that similar readiness protocols were observed in other parts of the country hit by recent tremors including Cebu, Bohol, and Baguio City, where AFP engineers and reserve units were among the first responders.

“I came from Cebu and Bohol the other day. I visited our units in Cebu to see their situation on the ground, and I found out that our structures are still intact, they’re okay. We have an engineering company based in Medellin (Cebu), which was also badly hit by the (September 30) earthquake, but our structures there remained strong because it’s an engineering company stationed in Medellin,” the military chief said.

“What’s important is that when the earthquake happened, our engineering units deployed in Cebu were able to respond immediately. The earthquake struck at around 10 p.m., and by 1 a.m., they were already deployed to help our fellow citizens,” he noted.

AFP engineer and reserve units were also mobilized to assist affected communities when a separate magnitude 4.4 earthquake jolted La Union, which was felt in Baguio City and nearby areas, on Oct. 9.

“Although it was not very strong, our engineering units based in La Union and our reserve units in Baguio City were also deployed. So it’s not only our regular forces who are helping but also our reservists,” Brawner said.