Photo by Matikas Sanots/INQUIRER.net
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines— A C-130 Hercules of the Malaysian Air Force carrying tons of relief goods for survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) was ready to land at the airport here on Thursday but was told to fly to the Mactan airport in Cebu to give way to a small private plane carrying eight VIPs.
Eight days after Yolanda’s high winds and a surge of ocean water laid waste to the entire city and left its population prostrate, aid missions to the shattered province of Leyte and neigboring areas are hounded by matters like this and other logistical problems.
Citing the limited capacity of the airport, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas ordered the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to prioritize big planes bringing relief items over smaller private planes to prevent delays in the distribution of aid already long delayed.
He also directed CAAP area manager Efren Nagrama to make sure that all relief flights are able to land in Tacloban after learning that the Malaysian C-130 was turned away to accommodate a chartered Beechcraft King Air.
“There are relief flights which were not allowed to land because of the air traffic,” Roxas told Nagrama during the daily meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council at the sports complex here.
He noted that Tacloban airport’s apron, which barely survived the storm surge and powerful winds of the typhoon, can accommodate only three planes at a time.
“You have a King Air carrying eight persons and a C130 carrying tons of relief items. Which one would you let in first? Unfortunately, the C130 had to return to Cebu,” Roxas said. “Whoever executive was on that King Air flight, you should have ordered him to go to Cebu and wait for clearance to return.”
Roxas said he was not told who were the passengers of the chartered flight, but he surmised they could be leaders of a private volunteer organization.
While the government was thankful for the private group’s help in gathering support for the survivors, he said private flights should not hamper the delivery of aid.
He also noted that a group of foreign health workers had been stuck at the airport since Thursday waiting for medical equipment to be flown in.
“We need to prioritize flights which are directly involved in the relief operations,” Roxas said. “We should make sure that before a flight leaves Cebu (or Manila), they will be able to land in Tacloban and will not waste fuel going around.”
Nagrama said some 30 C-130 planes from various countries have landed at the airport since the government rolled out a massive relief distribution days after Yolanda battered the city and much of the Visayas and Palawan.
He said CAAP had also allowed Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines to have four commercial flights each from Cebu daily.
“We’ve been actually prioritizing medical evacuation and relief operations. From now on, the arrival of private planes will be under strict limitations,” Nagrama said.
He said CAAP has already opened the airports in Guiuan and Borongan in Eastern Samar and in Catbalogan City in Samar province to accommodate C-130 transports and military helicopters.
In Borongan, Roxas was surprised on seeing three truckloads of relief items outside the capitol grounds waiting to be distributed when he visited the Eastern Samar capital on Friday.
“Our trucks have run out of gas. As much as we want to bring the relief goods to the typhoon victims, we can’t buy fuel anywhere,” said Eastern Samar Governor Conrado Nicart Jr.
Meanwhile, four gas stations reopened on Saturday. Police were deployed to secure three gas stations of Petron and one of Caltex.
Director Alex Paul Monteagudo, operations chief of the Philippine National Police, said the policemen were also tasked to ensure the orderly lines of people who want to buy fuel.
Leyte Governor Dominic Petilla had earlier suggested to Roxas a government takeover of the gas stations to prevent overpricing. Roxas said the fuel would be used for generators which could power hospitals, street lights and other vital installations.