Air assets from Singapore and Malaysia have arrived to help with rescue and relief operations in areas affected by Severe Tropical Storm “Kristine”, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said Sunday.

In an interview with dzBB, Philippine Air Force spokesperson Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo said the air assets from the two countries arrived on Saturday.

“Yesterday, we had a big development. The air assets of our friends from Singapore and Malaysia. We received a C-130 aircraft from Malaysia yesterday and a Eurocopter EC725 from Malaysia,” Castillo said.

She added that more aid is expected to arrive from other countries.

Castillo said they PAF have also deployed their air assets to distribute relief goods and to estimate the damage it caused.

“So far, in the past two days, our air assets have thoroughly been used. When the weather was safe and favorable for flying, we deployed our air assets?both rotary and fixed, to provide relief goods, conduct rapid damage assessment and needs analysis,” she said.

In the same interview, Col. Jose Romulo Dilag, commander of the Tactical Operations Group V of the Philippine Air Force said they are doing everything they can to help those affected by the storm in the Bicol Region.

“We have three Black Hawk helicopters which are now in the Bicol Region. We also have one Huey search and rescue helicopter from the 505 Search and Rescue Group. The helicopters of the President are also here…two C-130 aircraft are being used to deliver the relief goods here,” Dilag said.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said that the Bicol Region and Calabarzon were the regions heavily affected by “Kristine”. Jaspearl Tan/DMS