00:00The armed forces of the Philippines or AFP said that there are several factors to consider in deploying their assets
00:05in support to the repatriation of Filipinos in the Middle East.
00:09Meanwhile, the military's operations in the West Philippine Sea remain unaffected
00:13despite a looming oil crisis due to the continuing tensions.
00:18Patrick DeJesus reports.
00:26Amid the continuing tension in the Middle East due to the war of the US and Israel against Iran,
00:33where there is still no certainty on when it will end,
00:36the armed forces of the Philippines assured its readiness to help in the repatriation or return of Filipinos back to
00:43the Philippines.
00:44Among the possible assets to be used are the transport aircraft of the Philippine Air Force
00:49and sea lift vessels of the Philippine Navy.
01:14With this, we are capable. Your Navy is very capable.
01:17But according to the technical explanation of the AFP,
01:22unlike the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic,
01:25several factors must now be considered in deploying their assets,
01:29especially with airspace still closed across large parts of the Middle East
01:34due to the continuing missile and drone strikes.
01:38The PAF added that a comprehensive plan is important to ensure safety.
01:44We have to consider several things po.
01:47Like yung prepositioning natin, ground control, coordination on the ground,
01:51and this is miles away.
01:53Medyo malayo po ito, no?
01:55So, yung also the issues about diplomatic clearances,
02:00conflict wartime po tayo, unlike po nung COVID, ma'am, na,
02:04you know, we just, it's more of a health risk.
02:06Now, we are considering, syempre po yung conflict, yung safety po,
02:11hindi lang po nung movement, but lahat po, even the aircraft,
02:15even the, lahat po nang, nandun po sa airspace.
02:19Earlier, Malacanang also pushed back against the criticism of Vice President Sara Duterte
02:25on the government's repatriation efforts after she said,
02:30sending an aircraft was supposedly easy,
02:33sharing that a friend of hers was able to return from Dubai,
02:36and also recalling her experience in bringing home stranded individuals in Davao City during the pandemic.
02:43Meanwhile, despite the increase in petroleum product prices and the looming oil crisis,
02:50due to tensions in the Middle East,
02:52the AFP assured its operations to defend Philippine sovereignty remain unaffected,
02:58including patrols in the West Philippine Sea.
03:02This, also amid the continued illegal presence of Chinese vessels,
03:07which based on the latest monitoring of the Philippine Navy,
03:11list 30 ships from the PLA Navy and the China Coast Guard.
03:15For the AFP, all operational matters will continue.
03:18We could not afford to have a letdown in performing our mandate.
03:22The AFP is also studying a flexible working arrangement,
03:26particularly for its civilian employees,
03:29in compliance with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
03:35on conserving energy consumption.
03:37In the meantime, our AFP units and offices are already being reminded
03:41to strictly observe existing energy observation measures.
03:45Pwede po tayong mag-adjust ng schedule ng opisina,
03:48pero ang pagbabantay po sa bayan, hindi po pwedeng mag-day off.
03:52In relation to this,
03:56The Philippine Army demonstrated the repelling of an enemy assault
04:01in a literal defense live fire exercise
04:04as part of Catex Katihan in Burgos, Pangasinan.
04:08Aside from armor and artillery assets,
04:11including the remote control weapon systems,
04:14combat drones were also deployed.
04:16The exercise supports external security operations
04:19under the Army's land defense concept.
04:23Patrick De Jesus from the National TV Network
04:26for a new and better Philippines.
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