US troops redeployed to Pangasinan, La Union for relief operations

MANILA, Philippines - US forces that were in the country for “Ondoy’s” relief and rehabilitation operations were sent back to Pangasinan and La Union to help in the rescue of thousands of residents trapped in their houses since Thursday due to widespread flooding caused by typhoon “Pepeng.”

Defense Secretary and National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) chair Gilberto Teodoro said the redeployment of US forces was in response to the request for emergency help he made to US Ambassador Kristie Kenney the other day.

“Aside from their other units, because some are on their way back to Japan, I requested Ambassador Kenney to extend their (US troops) stay to help us in rescue and evacuation operations,” Teodoro said.

He said one of the two US warships with about 3,000 men deployed for Ondoy operations in Metro Manila would drop anchor in Lingayen Gulf to help in the ongoing emergency rescue and evacuation operations.

He added that Philippine Navy rescue teams earlier deployed in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte were also on their way to Lingayen to coordinate with their US counterparts.

Coast Guard rescue teams from Metro Manila were likewise redeployed to the two provinces.

Maj. Gen. Ricardo David, military commander in Northern Luzon, is leading the combined RP-US troops’ rescue and search operations in La Union and Pangasinan.

Initially, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had deployed three helicopters from Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, three rubber boats, a light amphibian rescue craft from the Philippine Navy, and two speedboats from the Army Special Forces.

NDCC spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said local and international agencies, including the Philippine National Red Cross, have also deployed their own rescue equipment.

“The US Armed Forces has made available 10 CH-46 helicopters and 18 combat raiding reconnaissance craft with three seven-ton trucks and two dump trucks to be used to transport rescue equipment to Northern Luzon from Metro Manila,” Torres said.

After the emergency relief and rehabilitation operations in the country, a contingent of US troops will stay behind for joint RP-US military exercises at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija next week.

US Navy ship off to Pangasinan

A US Navy ship sailed yesterday to Pangasinan to help in the government’s rescue and relief work.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde confirmed that Teodoro “has requested the US Embassy to authorize a redeployment of US military forces to northern Luzon to join the AFP already hard at work there.”

Presidential Management Staff chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., who was sent to Pangasinan by President Arroyo to supervise the effort, said the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) sailed from Subic Bay to Lingayen Bay after being diverted from military exercises for humanitarian work.

The vessel carried two Chinook helicopters and several boats for rescue, officials said.

Esperon, who brought with him some 4,000 relief packs, said the rescue effort was being hampered by bad weather and poor visibility.

He said he had just unloaded some rescued families from the helicopter that landed near the banks of the swollen Agno River.

Esperon reported that some of the people rescued were clinging to rain-drenched trees.

Mrs. Arroyo expressed her sympathies to those affected by Pepeng in northern and central Luzon.

“Rest assured that we will continue to extend relief and assistance, our soldiers, our policemen with volunteers from the private sector and civil society, in the same way we did for the victims of the weather disturbance that hit Metro Manila,” the President said.

Remonde said the Navy had already dispatched five teams – three in Pangasinan and two in Nueva Ecija. Each team has one officer and 15 enlisted men, a rubber boat with outboard motor for rescue and relief operations, and a truck equipped with a chain saw, assorted tools and first-aid kits.

He said other military and police units had been pre-positioned in vulnerable areas of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, La Union, Benguet, Batanes, and Tuguegarao for rescue operations.

Five helicopters have also been deployed – three in Nueva Ecija, two in Isabela, and one in Baguio City. “The standing order is for these choppers to fly at a moment’s notice and pluck people out of the raging floodwaters. Each chopper is manned by a four-man crew and can ferry eight to nine passengers,” Remonde said.

He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has distributed P15.2-million worth of assorted relief supplies and food.

It has P95-million worth of commodities that may be drawn at a moment’s notice and P11.5 million in additional funds for the purchase of emergency relief supplies.

Remonde admitted that government resources were already being stretched as these were being used in relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of tropical storm Ondoy that hit Metro Manila and nearby provinces recently.

The Japan-based dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry is bringing two of the aircraft along with other rescue equipment to the area, AFP chief of staff Gen. Victor Ibrado announced on local television.

US forces have been helping Filipino troops bring emergency relief as well as conducting medical missions and clearing rubble from floods caused by Ondoy, which killed 337 people in and around Manila and displaced more than four million.

Disaster and military authorities raced against time to save thousands of residents from danger in flooded towns of Pangasinan and landslide-stricken areas of Benguet after major dams in Northern Luzon overflowed due to Pepeng. – Jaime Laude, Paolo Romero, James Mananghaya, Mike Frialde