DALAWANG FA-50 Fighter Jets ng Philippine Air Force ang nagsilbing escort sa eroplanong sinakyan ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., nang lumipad ito para sa kanyang official visit sa New York para dumalo sa 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Ayon kay PAF Spokesperson Col. Ma Consuelo Castillo, hinatid ng dalawang air force fighter jets ang presidential flight sa eastern front ng Pilipinas sa may Polillo island hanggang sa 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zones.
Nabatid na hindi tradition ang Fighter escorting, bahagi umano ito ng standard operating procedure para matiyak ang ligtas na pag-alis at pagdating ng presidente ng bansa.
Idinagdag pa ng tagapagsalita na dahil may kakulangan ang Pilipinas sa air assets ay itinaon ang pag-escort sa presidential flight na tumagal lamang ng ilang minuto sa isinagawang regular maritime patrol ng dalawang FA-50s na naatasang pangalagaan ang bansa laban unauthorized intrusions sa ating Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone (PADIZ).
Nabatid na ito ang unang pagkakataon na nagawang eskortehan ng FA-50’s palabas ang Pangulo para sa kanyang foreign trip. Nagkataon lamang na libre ang dalawang FA-50s.
Sinabi pa ni Castillo “During the earlier presidential trips, our fighter jets had been committed for priority patrol missions elsewhere that needed its urgent presence … and considering that we have limited aircraft, our government’s priority is for our aircraft to be utilized for such urgent and critical missions.
“That is why, even in the said brief fighter escort mission, we jibed it with the conduct of maritime patrol.. It would really help if we could have more fighter aircraft for better coverage of our territories. As to the fighter escort mission for the return flight of the President, the PAF would wish to make that possible, even just to jibe it again with a maritime patrol mission,” dagdag pa ng opisyal.VERLIN RUIZ