A member of the Philippine Air Force drops anti-COVID19 leaflets and face masks from a helicopter to remove villages in Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte. | Photo courtesy Army 402nd Infantry Brigade
Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental—For the past two days, the Philippine Army air dropped thousands of anti-COVID-19 leaflets and hundreds of face masks in remote villages in Agusan provinces.
Army 402nd Infantry Brigade civil military officer Major Francisco Garello said they used a Philippine Air Force Huey helicopter and two MG-520 gunships to drop 10,000 anti-COVID-19 leaflets and 200 face masks in the two-day operations starting last Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
“This was part of our COVID-19 information awareness campaign to remote communities unreachable by vehicles,” Garello said.
He added that they earlier used Army vehicles with loud speakers and distributed in the urban areas of Butuan and Cabadbaran cities, and the towns of Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.
Garello said the air drop concentrated in the remote villages in the towns of Kitcharao, Jabonga, Tubay in Agusan del Norte, and towns of Alegria and Gigaquit in Surigao del Norte.
He said they decided to use helicopters to reach out to these remote communities who might not be aware of the dangers of the COVID-19.
He said they are planning to do another airdrop next week in other remote villages in the region. /bmjo