MANILA -- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has commended the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for assisting communities devastated by Typhoon Odette last month and for fulfilling its mandate of securing the nation from the enemies of the state.

“And I would like to reiterate that in behalf of the people of the Philippines, I would like to commend and salute the AFP for their toil. It was really not — it was a toil to be there helping everybody,” President Duterte said in his regular Talk to the People aired on Tuesday.

“So salamat sa — for all of these achievements so far that you have gathered throughout the… It’s a never-ending job for you hanggang ngayon, but nagpapasalamat ang tao at ako mismo nagpapasalamat rin. Keep up the good work and you have my snappy salute also.”

During the President’s weekly public address, AFP chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino reported the contributions of the armed forces in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts in the regions affected by the recent typhoon.

General Centino told the President that so far, the AFP has already deployed a total of 9,079 personnel in the five regions affected by the typhoon in the areas covered by Visayas Command, Eastern Mindanao Command, and Western Command of the AFP.

“Our personnel were immediately deployed in order to help in the prevention, mitigation, and response operations before, during and after the typhoon,” Centino said in his report.

Aside from the personnel sent to disaster areas, the AFP deployed about 28 Philippine Navy assets, 30 Philippine Air Force assets, and 769 land assets to provide assistance in the delivery and transport of relief goods, supplies, equipment and personnel.

Summarizing the AFP’s transport missions since the start of its Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations, Centino said the armed forces has used its assets to deliver a total of 522,675 kilos of supplies by air and about 4.1 million kilos of supplies and cargoes in 97 sorties by sea.

“Likewise, a total of 4.8 million kilos of relief goods were transported by land using our 769 trucks and vehicles,” he reported.

At the same time, the AFP used its assets in the transport of 1,514 stranded individuals by sea and 667 individuals by air.

Centino said the AFP has also worked with other stakeholders.For instance, the Philippine Air Force tapped the services of its affiliated reserve units like Air Asia and Philippine Airlines in transporting a total of 17,000 kilos of cargoes.

The Philippine Navy also coordinated with its affiliated reserve units, transporting by sea a total of 277,000 kilos of cargoes.

The AFP has set off the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), a facility activated during crisis and emergency situation to coordinate with government agencies, non-government organizations, and international humanitarian communities in the delivery of donated goods.

Through the CMCC, the AFP received over 8 million kilos of relief goods from 460 donors.

During HADR Operations, AFP’s newly acquired assets were used such as the Philippine Navy frigate BRP Jose Rizal, shifting from security operations to humanitarian missions for the delivery of relief goods to Palawan. The Navy’s sea asset made two sorties and facilitated the transport of 78,000 kilos of relief goods.

The BRP Ang Pangulo was converted into a floating hospital complete with medical teams and personnel on Siargao Island to provide medical assistance. So far, over 1,600 patients have been provided with medical service.

The newly acquired Philippine Air Force’s Black Hawk helicopters were also used during the initial rapid damage assessments, in the rescue of typhoon victims, and the transport of personnel and the delivery of relief goods in over 249 sorties, Centino reported.

To help people rebuild their homes, the AFP also deployed carpentry teams.

Also, Army engineers were sent to disaster areas to provide engineering support in the clearing roads and removing debris immediately after the onslaught of the typhoon.

The AFP has provided mobile water tanks to give typhoon survivors with potable water. It also facilitated the transport of equipment and supplies of utility companies for them to restore the electricity and communication requirements in affected areas.

Although there was an increased deployment in typhoon-affected areas, Centino assured President Duterte that the AFP still has sufficient forces deployed in other parts of the country to secure communities from communist insurgents and terrorists.

Despite the AFP’s various tasks, it recently neutralized Menandro Villanueva aka “Bok,” the longest-serving secretary of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee and the commander of National Operations Command of the CPP-NPA.

Centino also reported the neutralization of Norodin Hassan, the head of the DI Hassan Group, who was responsible for a bus bombing in Aleosan, Cotabato.

“We’d like to report also, sir, that we have sufficient forces to be deployed in checkpoints in coordination with the Comelec and the PNP,” he said. (PND)