AFP shifts from rescue efforts to disaster relief ops

With flood waters starting to subside in areas badly hit by tropical storm “Ondoy," the military on Monday said it is shifting its focus from rescue efforts to distribution of relief goods to the affected residents. In an interview with news anchor Arnold Clavio in GMA’s Special Coverage of Storm Ondoy, Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military would deliver the relief goods at designated distribution centers. "Napansin natin na bumababa na rin ang level ng tubig ng baha kaya hindi na po tayo Masyadong focused or concentrated sa pag-recover ng tao. Nag-shift tayo sa disaster relief operations," Brawner said. (With flood waters subsiding, we have shifted our focus from recovering the bodies of the fatalities to disaster relief operations.) The Special Coverage can be viewed online via GMANews.TV’s Livestreaming page. Relief operations are ongoing at disaster-stricken provinces like Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite . Brawner also said that military rescuers have also started entering residential areas in Pasig City and Cainta in Rizal that were previously impossible to reach due to the strong current of flood waters. Earlier in the day, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo opened Malacañang’s gates for the setting up of a relief operations center to better consolidate efforts of government agencies. For those who wish to lend a helping hand to the victims Ondoy’s victims by volunteering or sending donations, you may visit this page. - GMANews.TV