AFP to get 3 more choppers from US

The military is expecting the United States to deliver three combat helicopters soon as part of Washington’s military assistance to the Philippines, a military official said yesterday.

Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, commander of the military’s Southern Command, said the Huey choppers will be a big boost in military operations.

The military has been redeploying in the past months to meet an upsurge of attacks by communist New People’s Army rebels. Many NPA targets have been civilian facilities like telecommunications and electricity towers.

Communist rebels have been waging a 24-year Maoist armed campaign.

Because of lack of funding, the military has only a few dozen Hueys in service and has to make do with outdated equipment and weapons.

All of the Hueys were second-hand donations by the United States. Five Hueys were delivered to the Philippines last year.

The Air Force’s small fleet of Hueys was whittled down last week when a Huey crash landed on a mountain slope in San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.

Col. Charles Hotchkiss, deputy commander of the Air Force’s 600th Air Wing based at Clark Field in Pampanga, said the crash was apparently not caused by mechanical failure although investigators were still determining what went wrong.

Officials said the Huey crash landed after being buffeted by strong winds. The chopper spun out of control and was forced down on the slope of Mount Williams.

Seven of the nine people aboard — four TV journalists from ABS-CBN and GMA-7, the chopper’s two pilots and an army officer were hurt. Two other helicopter crewmen escaped injuries.

The journalists were en route to cover the exhumation of the body of a Protestant pastor who was allegedly executed by NPA rebels in the area and buried in a suspected mass grave.

GMA reporter Jiggy Manicad said strong winds prevented their helicopter from landing on a mountain clearing, forcing pilots 1st Lt. Paul Infante and 2nd Lt. Melvin Banua to fly low to allow those aboard to jump out.

But a gust caused the chopper to spin five times and forced it down near a ravine. The helicopter landed on its belly and bent its tail.

The Huey is the workhorse of the Philippine military. It does a variety of missions because of its ability to deliver personnel and cargo over rough terrain.

In the mid-1990s during the administration of Fidel Ramos the government embarked on an ambitious program to modernize the armed forces but shelved the plan due to lack of money.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the versatile, rugged chopper became a symbol of US combat forces in Vietnam. Over the years various updated and modified variants were introduced.

Most were equipped with machine guns, rockets and grenade launchers. Others were fitted with night fighting gear and anti-tank missiles.