AFP ready to help in Angeles City building collapse ops

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said it is ready to provide assistance for operations related to the collapsed building in Angeles City should lead agencies request its support.

“Kung ano po yung role ng bawat ahensya, sila po ang lead to all of these operations,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla said in a press briefing.

(When it comes to the role of each agency, they are the lead to all of these operations.)

“We continue to perform our mandate in support of the roles that these agencies play in the event po na kinakailangan yung tulong namin. We're always ready to support other agencies in the performance of their mandates,” she added.

Padilla said the military has a wide range of assets and specialized units that may be deployed for disaster response operations, including engineering brigades as well as search and rescue teams.

She added that the military has personnel trained for various emergency operations and can deploy augmentation forces anytime if requested.

Search and rescue operations at the collapsed under construction building have officially ended after authorities found no more signs of life beneath the rubble, the local government said Tuesday.

Angeles City government’s public information office chief Jose “Jay” Pelayo IV said the Unified Command System announced at 8:27 p.m. Monday the termination of rescue operations after the final assessment.

Due to this, the efforts will shift to retrieval and clearing operations.

Four people were confirmed dead, 16 were still reported missing, and 26 were rescued in the incident, according to Pelayo.

The nine-story building being constructed collapsed before dawn on Sunday.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing. —VAL, GMA News