MANILA – Some 13 helicopters and aircraft of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) are mobilized for the ongoing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in parts of the Visayas battered by Tropical Depression Agaton last week.
Air Force spokesperson Col. Maynard Mariano said Monday four S-70i Black Hawk combat utility helicopters, another four Bell 412 choppers, one W-3A Sokol rescue helicopter, two C-295 medium transport aircraft, and two NC-212i light transport aircraft.
Mariano said these resources are deployed to transport relief goods and personnel, as well as conduct rapid damage assessment needs analysis.
Also mobilized are the Philippine Army’s K-9 units and engineers to assist in the search, rescue-and retrieval efforts for landslide victims in Baybay City, Leyte.
Apart from combat tracking and explosive detection, the Army’s K-9 units are also used extensively as scout dogs.
These units, along with local policemen and Mines and Geosciences Bureau personnel, surveyed and assessed landslide-hit Barangay Katangos in Baybay City.Army spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said Army troops have been deployed to inaccessible areas in the barangays of Bunga, Mailhi, Cal-ipa to search and retrieve bodies that were buried by landslides or were swept by floods during the onslaught of “Agaton”. (PNA)