MANILA, Philippines?Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro has requested the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry to help rescue residents isolated by heavy flooding in Pangasinan province, Secretary Hermogenes Esperon said Friday morning.
"The USS Harpers Ferry is on its way to Lingayen Gulf. It is coming from Subic. From there it will launch search and rescue operations,'' he said in a phone interview from Rosales, Pangasinan.
The ship could deploy helicopters and rubber boats to rescue residents stranded in their homes, said Esperon, chief of the Presidential Management Staff and Cabinet officer for eastern Pangasinan.
Two rubber boats ?one each from Malacańang and the Northern Luzon Command?as well as six six-by-six trucks were being deployed for search and rescue operations, according to him.
"A chopper from Ft. Magsaysay just arrived here for search and rescue operations,'' he said.
