“ALL IN. Sends Engineers to Cagayan.”
Ito ang naging pasya ng AFP Northern Luzon Command matapos pakilusin ang AFP Reserve Force para tumulong sa gagawing full blast rehabilitation sa Region 2.
Ipinag-utos ni Maj Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos ang deployment ng military engineers para tumulong sa mamamayan ng Isabela at Cagayan na pininsala nang husto ng malawakang pagbaha kamakailan.
Ayon kay MGen. Burgos, ang nasabing hakbang ay alinsunod sa direktiba ni Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte na gamitin ang lahat ng available assets para mapabilis ang ginagawang recovery efforts sa Cagayan Valley.
Base sa datos ng AFP, may tatlong engineer construction battalions na strategically deployed sa Northern at Central Luzon.
Ayon kay pa Maj. Gen. Burgos, “such is a calculated and proactive move in preparation for the next logical step in post-disaster operations.”
Dagdag nito, “they have learned in the AFP’s long history of being first responders in times of calamities.”
Gaya ng mga regular at reserve forces, ang nasabing additional manpower and equipment ay ilalagay sa pangangasiwa ng Joint Task Force Tala, ang operating arm ng NOLCOM sa Region 2, na nagtatrabaho nang sabayan kasama ang Emergency Operations Center ng Cagayan Valley’s Office of Civil Defense at gobernador ng Cagayan at Isabela sa pamamagitan ng kanilang Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
“This crisis showed our nation and the international community that the AFP’s state of the art equipment acquired through the modernization program are not only tools for war but, more importantly, they are tools to save Filipino lives and tools that give hope amidst the uncertainties of calamities,” ani Gen. Burgos. (JESSE KABEL)
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