Cops, soldiers pitch in

MANILA, Philippines - Even soldiers and policemen from different parts of the country are pitching in to show their solidarity with the victims of Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas.

The 293 officers and 4,520 enlisted personnel of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division in Davao have decided to give up their subsistence allowance totaling P500,000 and donate it to the typhoon victims, said spokesman Capt. Christian Uy. 

This, as Army Cpl. Anjanette Obligado, who gave birth last month, was among those who donated breast milk to babies in an evacuation center in Tacloban City.

Obligado hails from Western Samar while her husband belongs to the Palo, Leyte police.

Task Force Diamond of the Army’s 4th ID left Surigao City yesterday for Leyte with another military task force of the 10th ID to help in the disaster relief operations.

Uy said they sent at least 130 soldiers, including an engineering brigade, to assist in road rehabilitation and shelter construction in Ormoc City. The soldiers were onboard 12 trucks with a fuel tanker of their own.

Uy said the humanitarian mission also brought some 450 packs of relief goods.

He said Task Force Aguila from the 10th ID in Davao joined forces with them in Lipata, the jump-off point from Mindanao to Leyte.

Uy said their men will be in Leyte for at least one month, and if they need to stay longer, replacements will be sent in.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Cotabato, said their rescue and life-saving experts have been dispatched to Visayas, bringing with them relief supplies donated by soldiers.

Officers and men of the Central Luzon (Region 3) police have collected relief goods and sent them to the Visayas, particularly Tacloban City, as part of their “Lingap Tacloban” effort.

Chief Superintendent Raul Petrasanta, regional police director, said the relief goods sent on Friday consisted of 27 sacks of rice, 23 boxes of canned goods, 142 boxes and 21 plastic bags of mineral water, 79 boxes and two sacks of instant noodles, seven boxes and three cans of biscuits, 40 sacks and 14 boxes of assorted groceries, 27 boxes of medicine, 139 sacks and three plastic bags of used clothes, and 228 pieces of new underwear.

The relief goods were collected from the region’s police personnel and their families, all provincial and city police offices, regional support units, and some civilians, he said.

Petrasanta said they were also able to raise P9,227.90 in cash donations.

To beef up clearing and recovery efforts in the Visayas, particularly in Tacloban, 375 police trainees in Cagayan Valley have been tapped.

The trainees at the Regional Training School in Cauayan City, Isabela would leave as soon as an Air Force C-130 plane is available to transport them along with donations of relief goods from the region.

Chief Inspector Telesforo Mallillin, the training school’s director, said the trainees would bring along their own provisions for at least one month.

Meanwhile, in Quirino, Gov. Junie Evangelita Cua said they have raised P200,000 in donations from provincial officials and employees and the rank-and-file of line agencies.

Agathon Pagbilao, assistant provincial social welfare officer, said the province, which is still recovering from the onslaught of Typhoon Labuyo last August, will also send relief supplies.

For its part, Camarines Norte is sending seven truckloads of relief goods, along with a 15-man medical team and Red Cross volunteers, to Samar and Leyte.

The Diocese of Balanga gave an initial donation of P200,000 to the Archdiocese of Palo in Leyte.

Bishop Ruperto Santos said Bataan would continue to help the Leyte archdiocese.

“In this time of despair and destruction, the Diocese of Balanga is one with our people in Leyte. We are brothers and sisters to them,” Santos said.

Alaminos City in Pangasinan is allocating P1 million for the Yolanda victims.

Mayor Arthur Celeste, on his Facebook page, said the city government and the city council were arranging for the release of P500,000 each for Leyte province and Tacloban City to be turned over to the Philippine Red Cross. – Edith Regalado, John Unson, Ric Sapnu, Gerry Lee Gorit, Raymund Catindig, Francis Elevado, Eva Visperas