CLARK FREEPORT – The City of Virginia Beach in Virginia has turned over to Philippine embassy officials in the US its donation of four modern boats, costing about P2.5 million, for disaster response operations in its sister city Olongapo.
Philippine embassy Minister and Consul Elmer Cato said the boats consisted of a 24-foot Boston whaler with a 225 horsepower engine, two rigid-hull infl atable boats with 50 and 70 horsepower outboard motors, and an aluminum utility skiff.
Each is equipped with trailers, sirens, sonars and radars. Cato, Armed Forces of the Philippines Attache Capt. Eliseo Aguilar, and Olongapo City Councilor Jong Cortes inspected the boats in Virginia last March 26.
Cortes said he initiated the move for the donation after Olongapo was hit by severe flooding in September last year during “torrential rains caused by the southwest monsoon that was enhanced by tropical storm Odette.”
“When Councilor Jong approached me to donate boats, I saw that these equipment were badly needed. So after we talked, I readily agreed and sponsored an ordinance authorizing the donation,” Cortes quoted Virginia Beach Councilor Jim Woods as saying.
For his part, Mayor Rolen Paulino thanked the Virginia folk for the donations. “We don’t have any budget to purchase new boats. So these donations, which are expected to arrive before the onset of the rainy season, are a blessing to our constituents.”
The Philippine embassy helped forge last year the sisterhood agreement between Olongapo and Virginia Beach. “Both are port cities that have ties with the US Navy. Virginia Beach also has a sizeable population of Filipino-Americans, including a number from Olongapo,” Cato said.
