PH, US stage rapid aid airlift drill at Clark
The Philippines and the United States drilled on Saturday the rapid airlift of relief goods for communities affected by recent floods.
The activity, held at Clark Air Base, involved the loading and transport of food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) via an MV-22 Osprey aircraft.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson observed the drill together.
Carlson reaffirmed support from the United States Indo-Pacific Command, which has been assisting the AFP in delivering aid to areas impacted by successive monsoons.
To date, 4,800 DSWD food packs have been transported and prepositioned, including deliveries to remote areas such as the Batanes Islands.
“Our partnership is premised on a fundamental value, the irreplaceable worth we place on every human life. That is very valuable to both of us. We respect each other, we respect human lives, and we are here to preserve that fundamental value,” Teodoro said in a statement on Saturday.
“To our treaty partners, the United States of America, we say thank you. And this will not be the last time. In the spirit of multilateralism, in the spirit of our bilateral people-to-people ties, we hope this partnership will be sustained and enhanced to contribute to the greater good of humankind.”
