EDITORIAL - Equipped for disaster

Foreign military aircraft continue to crowd airports and airstrips in the Visayas – a boon to the typhoon relief effort. It took days, however, for the foreign aircraft to start arriving in the Philippines from deployment in faraway shores. The first hours after Super Typhoon Yolanda struck were crucial in saving lives and delivering urgently needed relief goods. But the Philippines, visited regularly by natural disasters, lacked the aircraft to respond quickly.

After seeing foreign aircraft conducting rescue missions and bringing relief goods even to remote areas after Yolanda, the government is reportedly considering the acquisition of additional transport aircraft to beef up its three aging Philippine Air Force C-130 cargo planes. One of the three broke down a few days into the rescue and relief operations.

With China flexing its muscles in the West Philippine Sea, Manila is moving to beef up its air defense capability against external threats. The acquisition of fighter jets is currently in the works. Even with the frequency of natural disasters wreaking havoc in the country, however, there has been little urgency to strengthen the PAF’s capability to conduct rescue and relief missions.

After Yolanda, security officials are now considering the acquisition of more transport planes. The plans are said to be modest, with older versions of the C-130 rather than the Super Hercules series being considered. Whichever model is chosen, the acquisition must be done as quickly as procurement rules will allow.

Yolanda has once again shown that the country has a lot of friends it can count on in times of need. In disaster response, however, time is crucial. The government can’t wait for outside help to arrive before rescue and relief missions can get underway in earnest. If the administration wants better disaster response, it must provide the necessary equipment for it.