Balikatan troops re-deployed to flood-hit areas

MANILA, Philippines - A contingent of US troops participating in the combined amphibious landing exercises next month would be arriving ahead of schedule to assist in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation operations in Metro Manila.

The US troops based in Okinawa, Japan are also bringing with them heavy equipment, medicine and other necessities for distribution to the hundreds of thousands displaced by floodwaters and flashfloods caused by tropical storm “Ondoy” last Saturday.

The US government also committed six Chinook transport helicopters to facilitate the distribution of relief goods to the worst affected areas.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney said yesterday in an interview in the morning show “Unang Hirit” of GMA-7 that the American troops would arrive later today only “if paperwork is done” authorizing their deployment for the relief operations.

“After paperwork is done they will be here Wednesday night,” Kenney said.

Kenney said the sight of hapless Filipinos reeling from the devastation left by Ondoy over the weekend is “heartbreaking.”

She said it was not different from the situation when Hurricane Katrina hit the US in August 2005.

“Our focus honestly right now has been on getting relief to people and we’ll let the government authorities over the next several days and weeks assess the total extent and how it compared to Katrina,” Kenney said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said he has yet to be informed about the American deployment of troops.

Teodoro noted the US troops are supposed to participate in the yearly joint RP-US amphibious landing exercises for next month.

“I heard about it but I have yet to be officially informed,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro said the National Disaster Coordinating (NDCC) is continuously appealing for international help and assistance, including from the US.

Teodoro, however, said a landing site has been prepared to accommodate the six Chinooks of the US military.

The Chinooks would be used to transport relief goods to the evacuees, whose number as of yesterday has increased to 567,417, Teodoro said.

While surprised by the changes in schedule of the 2009 RP-US Phiblex Exercises and the shift of venue to Metro Manila, officials welcomed the gesture.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Joker Arroyo said the US assistance to the efforts is most welcome.

“We welcome this. No one in his right mind would reject this offer of humanitarian assistance,” Santiago said.

Santiago though suspected the US assistance formed part of what she called “psy-ops” (psychological operations) of the American military to win over the Senate which has rejected the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) treaty with the US.

“They gather intelligence by this means. So it is not always a one-way street. We may benefiting as a people, but they are benefiting as well,” she said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), for its part, said the change in deployment to rehabilitation and rescue effort is a welcome move.

“We welcome the decision of our US counterparts because this would mean that they would helping us in our ongoing efforts in rebuilding not only destroyed roads and bridges and houses, but most especially shattered lives of our countrymen hit hard by widespread flooding,” AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said.

Partial estimate of the damage left by Ondoy has reached P4.2 billion. This includes destroyed private and government infrastructures like building and houses as well agriculture and fisheries.

Several US troops based in Zamboanga City are currently helping in the relief and rehabilitation operations in Marikina, Pasig and Cainta, Rizal.

Sought for comment on the presence of the US forces to help in disaster and relief operations, Teodoro said: “We asked for it.”

As of yesterday, there are areas still submerged in waist-deep floodwaters in Cainta and Pasig while floodwaters have already receded in most parts of Marikina City.   –With Aurea Calica