Abu Sayyaf member with P600,000 bounty nabbed in Basilan

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 19): Abu Sayyaf member with P600,000 bounty nabbed in Basilan

With Super typhoon "Lawin" now starting to pound Northern and Central Luzon, the Philippine Navy (PN) on Wednesday announced that all its units are now on alert.

This is to facilitate the deployment of Navy ships and personnel for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions, PN spokesperson Capt. Lued Lincuna said in message to the PNA.

"In northern parts of the country, some teams are already deployed where 'Lawin' is expected to hit," he added.

Areas in the track of "Lawin" are Regions I, II, III, and the Cordillera Autonomous Region.

And when asked what floating assets are available for disaster relief work, Lincuna said all naval assets assigned to Naval Forces North are now taking shelter in order to ensure personnel and equipment safety.

"But once the weather clears, they will conduct HADR operations," he added.

As this develops, the PN spokesperson said that they have BRP Bacolod City (LC-550) on stand-by off Sangley Point, Cavite.

Once "Lawin" clears, Lincuna said the ship would immediately leave for Batanes with 10 tons of relief goods and disaster relief personnel.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=932788