CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – As the country braces for Typhoon Rolly, the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) has alerted troops for possible disaster response operations.
In a statement on Friday night, Nolcom commander, Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., said he has directed the commanders of the different joint task forces under his jurisdiction to “ensure that every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine, including our land, air, and water assets, are ready to immediately respond should our constituents require our assistance.”
Burgos said each joint task force has an organic disaster response unit that is activated and deployed during calamities to respond to the needs of would-be affected communities.
He cited the need for “our units to liaise and engage the different Offices of Civil Defense in the regions within our operational jurisdiction.”
Burgos also reminded his subordinate units to remain vigilant against any possible offensive action from the New People’s Army (NPA), which he said has demonstrated “blatant disrespect (for) internationally-accepted war conventions by attacking unarmed soldiers who were merely performing humanitarian missions in the past.”
Nolcom has army, air force, navy, and marine units that are strategically deployed across the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera regions, as well as in the different maritime areas in the West Philippine Sea, Batanes Group of Islands, and the Philippine Rise in the Pacific Ocean.
As of 3 a.m. on Saturday, the eye of “Rolly” was located at 810 km. east of Casiguran, Aurora, or 640 km. east-northeast of Virac, Catanduanes, packing maximum sustained winds of 215 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 265 kph. It was moving westward at 20 kph, according to the weather bureau. (PNA)
