Philippines mission will last months
The Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, that Canada is deploying to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines has been ordered to stay “between 30 and 60 days,” the general responsible for all Canadian troops overseas said Tuesday.
“This is not a touch-andgo,” Lt.-Gen. Stu Beare told Postmedia News following a visit with Canadian troops in Afghanistan. “We will stay for quite a time to give them immediate assistance.
“The long haul, for the rebuild, will be the job for the UN and NGOs.”
Canada will also consider adding small C-130 Hercules transport aircraft to its relief efforts, depending on what the Philippine government needs, said Beare, the commander of the Canadian Joint Operations Command.
One problem is the few long runways on the islands that were hit hard when a super typhoon roared ashore Saturday, making it difficult for large aircraft to bring in relief supplies.
It takes a Hercules two days just to reach Hawaii, whereas it takes a C-17 only a day. The C-17 can also carry up to 170,000 pounds of cargo, compared to 40,000 pounds of cargo for a Hercules.
The small assessment team already in the Philippines will speak with authorities there about “where the greatest needs” are, Beare said. Only then will Canada know where exactly to place its emergency relief specialists.
A mammoth Canadian C-17 Globemaster from CFB Trenton is now at Hickham Air Force Base in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, with a small number of troops that are part of the advance team. If its role isn’t immediately clear, it will move on to another U.S. base at Guam so it can quickly reach the Philippines when the Canadians know where they are most needed.
The DART has doctors and other medical personnel as well as engineers, signallers and labourers. It is equipped with communications gear, medical equipment, a portable water purification plant and a forklift, as well as some building supplies.
“We are prepared to push out whatever is required when the Philippines tells us,” Beare said. Emergency supplies were being consolidated Tuesday at CFB Trenton for a flight by another C-17, while awaiting word on Filipino priorities.
A Canadian Forces Challenger jet has already arrived in the Philippines while some other Canadian troops were to arrive Tuesday on commercial flights, the general said.
“The transit time for the C-17 is about 30 hours,” Beare said. “We can reach it with a double hop.”
Canada is co-operating with U.S. Pacific Command, which already has Marines on the ground at Tacloban. It may be the hardest hit of many towns and cities in the eastern Philippines that were torn apart by the typhoon and mountainous waves that came ashore with it.
Canada is also “tracking what others are pledging through our diplomats and military liaison officers around the world,” Beare said, to tailor its requirements to local needs.
Asked about reports of lawlessness in areas worst affected by the typhoon, he said, “If there is a threat we will adjust accordingly. But that is not our priority right now. Our priority is to reach there to help as soon as we can.”