Thursday, August 28, 2008 C-130's crash will impede relief operations
THE crash of one of the two C-130's of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the grounding of the other will have adverse effects on the support operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), especially now that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) continues to fight it out with the military.
The C-130's are the aircrafts used by the AFP in distributing relief goods to various areas of the country, aside from bringing in large number of troops from major city to another.
"It will affect the support operations of the AFP, such as the distribution of relief goods to refugees of the conflict affected areas," Major Armand Rico, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command, told Sun.Star Davao Wednesday.
"But not our tactical operations," he added.
Rico said the military will now have to resort to the use of land transportation or the use of commercial airlines for their relief operations.
The C-130 Hercules Lockheed aircraft has been in service for the past 37 years, shuttling military troops and equipment, civilian hitchhikers, and relief goods from one point of the country to the other.
The C-130 that crashed into the Davao Gulf Monday night arrived in Davao City earlier that day to bring in additional troops that will augment the military operations in Central Mindanao. (CPM)
