THE Philippine Navy, through the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM), has provided assistance to deliver relief goods in remote towns of Mapun and Turtle Islands in the province of Tawi-Tawi.
Rear Admiral Erick Kagaoan, NFWM commander, said the relief goods that were transported were for the patients under investigation (PUI) and persons under investigation (PUM) for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the two island towns.
Mapun, which comprises of 15 villages, is a fourth-class municipality of Tawi-Tawi with a population of 26,597 as of the 2015 census. It is formerly known as the Cagayan de Sulu until 1984 and Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi until 1988.
Turtle Islands, known to the locals as Taganak, is a fifth-class town and politically subdivided into two villages and seven islands with a population of 4,727 as of the 2015 census.
The islands are located within the Sulu Sea at the south-western tip of the country, at the edge of the international treaty limits separating the Philippines and Malaysia.
Kagaoan said the relief goods were delivered to the two island towns through BRP-Emilio Jacinto (PS35), skippered by Commander Aldrin Gacusan, which is under the direction of Joint Task Force-Tawi-Tawi headed by Colonel Arturo Rojas.
Kagaoan said the PS35, in coordination with the Maritime Inter-Agency Task Force under the Tawi-Tawi Provincial Government, with Altazar Atiulla and Chelsy Torralba from the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), transported about four tons of relief goods to the two island municipalities from March 27 to 30.
He said the Multi-Purpose Attack Craft (BA493) also assisted the Provincial Government in the delivery of relief goods and other government services to the two remote island towns.
He said the Fleet-Marine Team in the South and the Philippine Navy as a whole is one with the government in the fight against Covid-19.
He added that they will continuously be of service in order to deliver all necessary assistance to all communities regardless of remoteness in the Southern part of the country. (SunStar Zamboanga)