AFP Chief of Staff, Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr.
PORAC, Pampanga — Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. and key members of the AFP flew to this town Tuesday to personally see the ongoing search and rescue (SAR) operations, particularly in the Chuzon Supermarket.
He also came over to condole with the families of those who died in the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the province.
Madrigal, with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Defense Undersecretary Renato David, Office of Civil Defense Chair Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, AFP Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) commander, Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, and7ID commander, Maj. Gen. Leonard Agustin, went straight to Funeraria Punzalan where five of the victims of the earthquake lie in state.
The members of the bereaved family thanked the AFP chief for personally visiting the wake and expressing the condolences of the AFP.
From the funeral home, Madrigal proceeded to oversee the ongoing SAR Operations.
The AFP chief commended the soldiers who were at the forefront of the incessant operations to save at least 14 persons who were reportedly still trapped in the rubbles.
Together with rescue teams from the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, AFP Rescuers have, as of posting time, rescued nine and recovered five cadavers.
"I can only give my admiration to these gentlemen and ladies who tirelessly toil to save lives or give a decent burial to those who succumbed in this tragedy. I thought I came here to inspire them, but they inspired me instead with their dedication and heroism," Madrigal said.
"While this is a mournful event, this allows us to see what competencies and more equipment we still need to best address these incidents like expertise and equipment in collapsed structure," he added.
For her part, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda thanked the troops who "rushed here at a moment’s notice."
"Without you, we would not know what to do on this critical and trying times. I must admit that we lacked the competency on the collapsed structure and also the equipment. And even if we have the tools, we may not know how to use them," she said.
"Hence the skills and equipment of your soldiers in humanitarian assistance and disaster response significantly helped at the time that they are needed badly and immediately," Pineda said during her conversation with Madrigal Jr. in the capitol.
For his part, the AFP chief committed that "there's no giving up in the lives of people — either in saving them from ruins or from the groups like the terrorist NPA who still has in their grips many fellow Filipinos who were misled and cheated by them into joining their detested group." (PR)
