PNA photo by Priam F. Nepomuceno
While relief and rehabilitation efforts are undergoing in quake-battered Itbayat town of Batanes province, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday admitted that it is quite a challenge to bring supplies to the calamity zone on the island.
"The first challenge is to go there because it's an island and the mode of transport is by boat and mabagal yun (and that's slow). It took us a day before we can respond and bring in supplies to Basco and bring supplies again to Itbayat," he said during the launching of the two-day National Disaster Resilience Summit which was held at the Manila Center in Cubao, Quezon City.
To expedite relief operations, the DND chief said they had to bring in helicopters and station it in Basco, so that relief supplies can be immediately airlifted to Itbayat and also to bring out those seriously injured or dead victims.
"We had to bring in choppers and station it in Basco so that we can airlift already the supplies plus airlift the injured casualties to Basco Hospital," he added.
With Batanes being an island, Lorenzana said that their reaction time is quite slow because it is too far away.
"It's too far away. the nearest base that we can get choppers is in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. Matagal mag-travel 'yung chopper so yun ang (it will take helicopters time to get there) challenge: how to get there immediately," he added.
On Saturday, two earthquakes struck the northernmost province of the country, killing nine people and causing damage to churches, houses and other structures.
The strongest tremor was recorded at magnitude 5.9.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076546
"The first challenge is to go there because it's an island and the mode of transport is by boat and mabagal yun (and that's slow). It took us a day before we can respond and bring in supplies to Basco and bring supplies again to Itbayat," he said during the launching of the two-day National Disaster Resilience Summit which was held at the Manila Center in Cubao, Quezon City.
To expedite relief operations, the DND chief said they had to bring in helicopters and station it in Basco, so that relief supplies can be immediately airlifted to Itbayat and also to bring out those seriously injured or dead victims.
"We had to bring in choppers and station it in Basco so that we can airlift already the supplies plus airlift the injured casualties to Basco Hospital," he added.
With Batanes being an island, Lorenzana said that their reaction time is quite slow because it is too far away.
"It's too far away. the nearest base that we can get choppers is in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. Matagal mag-travel 'yung chopper so yun ang (it will take helicopters time to get there) challenge: how to get there immediately," he added.
On Saturday, two earthquakes struck the northernmost province of the country, killing nine people and causing damage to churches, houses and other structures.
The strongest tremor was recorded at magnitude 5.9.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1076546
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.