Philippine Navy conducts rescue, relief missions in Palawan

The Philippine Navy’s Naval Forces West (NFW) conducted its operations on humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) on December 18-21 to help its personnel and the residents affected by Typhoon Odette’s onslaught in Palawan.

The NFW initially transported 120 sacks of rice in Roxas, Palawan as requested by the Office of the Vice President and Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) deployed in PC370 and a Navy chartered vessel.

It also augmented the reservists for repacking of relief goods in some barangays of Puerto Princesa City, and sent basic supplies to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel in Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Typhoon Odette hit the Pag-Asa Island just as it was undergoing an upgrade to facilities including the repair of a runway.

The newly-built Coast Guard station on Pag-Asa Island was also “washed out” by the storm, per Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo.

In support of the Western Command’s Joint Task Force I-CARE and the Palawan PDRRMO, the NFW said it deployed search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR)-trained reservist personnel in Northern Palawan, and conducted clearing operations along Barangay Bahile going to Oyster Bay detachment.

The Philippine Navy also deployed its air assets in Palawan and the WPS to conduct maritime air surveillance and rapid disaster assessment and needs analysis to provide photographic information on the current situation of the areas affected by Typhoon Odette.

As part of its mandate to conduct sustained naval presence in the WPS, the NFW also conducted troop rotation and reprovisioning in several areas to conduct damage assessment of facilities, resupply basic needs, repair communications equipment, and assess the condition of personnel deployed.

The Navy’s Civil Military Operations Group also provided six loads of M35 trucks of assorted relief goods.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) sent relief goods loaded through the trucks of the Naval Construction Engineering Brigade to BRP Jose Rizal in Subic, Zambales before sailing to Palawan. The donations are said to be given to most-hit areas in Palawan and residents of Pag-Asa Island.

At the height of Typhoon Odette, PAGASA hoisted Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 3 over the northern portion of Palawan and Kalayaan Islands. Odette made its ninth landfall over Roxas, Palawan on Friday after cutting a destructive path through parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

As of Tuesday, at least 17 people reported dead while 22 were missing in the northern part of Puerto Princesa due to the typhoon.—Giselle Ombay/AOL, GMA News