Food packs airlifted to isolated Aeta communities
Volunteers load food supplies onto a PAF helicopter for delivery to remote Aeta villages in Botolan, Zambales on Sunday, Sept. 6
PDRRMO Zambales
Volunteers load food supplies onto a PAF helicopter for delivery to remote Aeta villages in Botolan, Zambales on Sunday, Sept. 6
PDRRMO Zambales
Around 4,564 family food packs airlifted to isolated communities in the town of Botolan, Zambales on 6 September 2026 as part of the provincial government’s thrust to resupply basic necessities of Aeta families in the said area.
According to Governor Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr., the said ,564 cartons of family food packs were meant for 2,519 families in the 11 “Baytan” (eastern) villages of Botolan, whose communities were isolated due to continues rainfall brought about by the Southwest Monsoon.
The said airlift operation was conducted by the Philippine Air Force (PAF), and is jointly led by the provincial government and the Botolan local government unit (LGU). The PAF delivered the food packs to nine of the 11 Aeta villages, while the remaining two were delivered via carabao.
Ebdane said Sunday’s relief operation was in response to the immediate needs of Aeta communities that mostly relied on farming for livelihood, but couldn’t bring products to lowland markets due to inclement weather.
The villages of Villar, Moraza, Belbel, Burgos, Nacolcol, Palis, Maguisguis, Cabatuan, Owaog Nebloc, Malomboy, and Poonbato are located from 25 to 30 kilometers away from the town proper.
The relief operation was supervised by Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) head Rolex Estella and Botolan MDRRMO head Andy Divino in coordination with Maj. Michael Vincent Perandos, acting deputy group commander of the PAF, and LTC Mark Anthony Ruelos, commander of the Philippine Army’s 69th Infantry Battalion in Zambales.
Estella said they established separate landing sites in the villages of Villar, Poonbato, and Cabatuan, so that residents from neighboring could also receive the airlifted supplies.
The relief operation on Sunday took more than seven hours, Estella said.
Beneficiaries included 250 families in Villar, 158 in Moraza, 150 in Belbel, 280 in Burgos, 300 in Maguisguis, 308 in Poonbato, 356 in Cabatuan, 200 in Palis, 280 in Nacolcol, 197 in Owaog Nebloc, and 40 in Malomboy.
Estella said continuous heavy rains had made the upland barangays inaccessible due to strong river current at the Bucao River and its two tributaries that drain from Mount Pinatubo.
Last Friday, September 4, Gov. Ebdane ordered the PDRRMO and municipal disaster management officials to closely watch lahar channels in the province after a forecast of more heavy rainfall from the southwest monsoon.
Zambales was placed under a state of calamity on August 19 after sustaining more than P591.98 million in damages to agriculture and infrastructure from the combined effects of habagat and tropical cyclones.
