ARMED Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr has ordered the activation of Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites as a “primary centers” or hubs for humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations.
“These hubs will serve as staging areas for prepositioning rescue equipment and consolidating relief goods,” Brawner said in a statement yesterday.
Some 1.2 million individuals across the country have been affected by tropical cyclone “Crising,” which left the country on Saturday, and the southwest monsoon, in the past days.
There are nine EDCA sites — Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, Lal-lo airport in Cagayan, Naval Base Camilo Osias in Cagayan, Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Isabela, and Balabac Island in Palawan.
The EDCA facilities were put up by the US for joint use with the Philippine military. The Americans use these facilities for prepositioning of assets for territorial defense and disaster response operations.
Brawner said he has ordered the military’s unified commands and major services “to activate these sites as primary centers for HADR operations,” on the instruction of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
He also said the military is working closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to ensure that efforts in the delivery of assistance to those affected are aligned and effective.
“Using these forward-operating hubs allows us to deliver aid faster and more efficiently to our fellow Filipinos, especially in hard-hit and remote areas. This kind of rapid response can spell the difference between life and death,” said Brawner.
He also said the activation of the EDCA sites as HADR hubs show how the partnerships of the Philippines and United States are “helping us on the ground.”
He said the AFP is in close coordination with the US Indo-Pacific Command “to ensure seamless interoperability as we utilize these shared facilities, transport, and airlift assets in this mission.”
“In every storm, our nation’s true strength is not measured by how much we can endure the winds, but by how quickly and wholeheartedly we come to each other’s aid,” said Brawner.
He said the military is leveraging every “available advantage” to accomplish its “most sacred mandate of serving and protecting our people.”
“The use of EDCA sites is not just a logistical decision but a commitment to bring support and comfort to our kababayans (countrymen) with all possible speed and efficiency,” said Brawner.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said “basically all” EDCA sites will be used as HADR hubs.
“If they are needed, they would be used for that. So they can be used as command and control hubs, they can be used as repacking areas for relief goods or any other purpose,” she also said.
Padilla said it is not the first time these EDCA sites are used for disaster response operations, noting these sites also played key role in HADR operations when a series of tropical cyclones hit the country last year.
She said the US military is making available some of their air assets for the HADR operations.
Asked for the specific air assets, Padilla said, “I don’t have the details from the other side…. But that is part of the relief operations that they will be conducting from their end also.”
Padilla said the military has put on standby 1,191 Disaster Response Task Units with at least 12,900 personnel throughout the country for search and rescue and relief operations.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines has also readied 1,027 land assets, military trucks, ambulances, and general purpose vehicles, 48 air assets, both rotary and fixed wing, and 25 sea assets across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao for any emergency deployment,” she said.
‘AYUDA’
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will release at least P360 million from the Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP) to 36 congressional districts severely affected by Crising and the intensified southwest monsoon.
The release of AKAP funds and assistance such as food packs and other relief items was facilitated by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, speaker in the 19th Congress, in coordination with the Tingog party-list group.
Romualdez said each congressional district will receive P10 million in direct financial aid intended for residents affected by flooding, displacement and other emergencies.
“This is just the beginning of our coordinated disaster response … What’s important is we immediately felt the help of the Marcos administration,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Tingog served hot meals in Quezon City, Manila and Marikina City where the river levels continue to rise.
Caritas Philippines, the humanitarian arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, said it is preparing an emergency appeal for dioceses through the Alay Kapwa Solidarity Fund.
“This appeal will be announced during the televised daily Mass to mobilize immediate assistance for communities affected,” it said.
For the moment, Caritas said, it is focused on closely monitoring the impact of the calamity on the communities.
“Ongoing monitoring is being conducted by the affected dioceses. Information and updates are being disseminated in real time through the social media platform and group chat,” it said.
Caritas said that, so far, needed are food non-food items, such as thermal kits, hygiene and dignity kits.
Among Church institutions, Caritas said at least eight dioceses have reported being adversely affected. These are the dioceses of Imus, Malolos, Novaliches, Bacolod, and Masbate; archdioceses of Nueva Segovia, and Lipa; and the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan. – With Wendell Vigilia and Gerard Naval
