Marcos: PAF airlift wing key to swift disaster response

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday commended the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) 250th Presidential Airlift Wing (PAW) for enabling the government to respond swiftly to communities affected by disasters.

In his speech during the 58th founding anniversary of the 250th PAW, Marcos said the unit’s role goes beyond transporting him, his staff, and visiting foreign dignitaries, noting its importance in emergency and humanitarian operations.

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The 250th PAW is the PAF’s premier air mobility unit, tasked with providing safe, secure, efficient, and dignified air transportation for the President, the First Family, visiting heads of state, and other high-ranking dignitaries.

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“Thanks to your excellence, I am able to promptly reach our fellow citizens who are in need of help and care,” he said at the Multipurpose Gymnasium at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

“So, when floods and communities, for example are isolated, you help bring us closer to the families that are waiting for assistance. When earthquakes damages homes and shakes people’s spirit, you carry relief and hope for them to carry on,” he also said.

Before the PAF event, Marcos visited communities in Zambales and Pampanga affected by severe flooding aboard the presidential helicopter. He also inspected two bridges that had partially collapsed in Taguig City.

“So, to our Bluebirds: the aircraft may carry the mission, but it is your discipline and your teamwork that make each operation possible and make each operation successful,” the president said. Bluebirds is the moniker for the 250th PAW.

“You give the president and the presidency — because you do not only fly me — you fly my staff, you fly all the support staff that is necessary for me to be able to do my job properly… and you provide the readiness to respond when circumstances call for a quick and rapid response,” the president added. /das