ZAMBOANGA CITY, 23 October 2006 — Italian philanthropist Armado de Rossi has donated 14 ambulances to the provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and this southern port city, US military officials said yesterday.
The ambulances are to be transported from the Subic Bay Freeport, northwest of Manila, to Zamboanga City by the United States Navy ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), said Marine Lance Cpl. David Rogers of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s public affairs office.
Rogers said The 3P (Promotion of Peace and Prosperity in the Philippines) Foundation headed by de Rossi purchased 14 Ford F350 ambulances to donate to places throughout the Philippines in an effort to bring better medical supplies and capabilities to local provinces.
Maj. John Redfield of the US Air Force said five of the ambulances are to be donated to the Zamboanga City Fire Department, the Jolo Rescue Network, the Camp Asturias Hospital on Jolo Island, the Jolo Red Cross, and a clinic in Tawi-Tawi province.
De Rossi is actively involved in humanitarian activities in Jolo, the main island of Sulu province where US-backed Philippine troops are hunting Abu Sayyf guerrillas and Jemaah Islamiyah militants.
