AUTHORITIES remained optimistic they will find more survivors among more than 100 individuals who were buried by landslides a week ago due to rains brought by tropical storm “Agaton.”
The death toll from Agaton remained at 172 yesterday, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) which said 156 of the fatalities were from Eastern Visayas, including 155 from the landslides in Leyte.
“We are not losing hope of recovering survivors,” said Col. Noel Vestuir, commander of the Army’s 802nd Brigade which is playing a key role in search, rescue, and retrieval operations.
Mark Timbal, spokesman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said at least 170 individuals remained missing in the Leyte landslides — 100 in Abuyog town and more than 70 in Baybay.
“The relatives of the (missing) victims are waiting for us (to recover survivors). As much as possible, we want to give them hope,” said Vestuir.
Vestuir said soldiers, aided by heavy equipment, continued searching yesterday.
“As long as the risk is manageable, our teams will continue with the search, (rescue) and retrieval operations,” said Vestuir, admitting soldiers are at risk in some areas due to soft ground.
Maj. Gen. Bernard Banac, director of the Eastern Visayas regional police office, said they are employing K9 dogs in the search operations. He said there were only 104 missing victims in Leyte based on PNP information.
“There are still possibilities we can recover (survivors) but not the entire 104,” said Banac.
Banac said it is not yet the time to stop the search.
“We cannot just say ‘stop the search’. People cannot understand that, especially the relatives of the (missing) victims who want to find their missing loved ones,” said Banac.
Timbal said they are hoping the missing individuals are inside their buried houses. “We hope the structures are still intact and people are still inside,” he said, adding they are confident rescue workers will soon find the missing victims.
“We are not losing hope no matter how (complicated) the situation is… It’s always a race against time. Several days have passed but we’re still hoping against hope that we will find more survivors,” said Timbal.
NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said local government officials will decide on whether to shift to search and retrieval operations, from the current search, rescue and retrieval operations.
“That’s the call of the mayor, that’s why we have an incident management system that’s in place there… There are many things that should be considered, including the safety of the responders,” said Jalad.
In Capiz, provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer Judy Grace Pelaez said they have recorded 19 deaths or 13 more than what the NDRRMC reported to have died in Capiz.
“We were not directly hit but we already have 19 deaths and until now, we have one missing. We also have 253 injured, three of them were admitted (to hospitals),” said Pelaez.
Pelaez said most of the deaths were due to drowning.
The NDRRMC said Agaton affected 584,108 families or 2,015,514 persons in nine regions — Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen, Caraga and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,
Of the number, the NDRRMC said 43,626 families or 158,602 individuals remain in 837 evacuation centers. It said 110,640 displaced families or 188,000 individuals are staying with relatives or friends.
The NDRRMC said 10,402 houses were either destroyed or damaged by Agaton in eight regions.
It also said the cost of damage to agriculture remained at P249.8 million in Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and BARMM while damage to infrastructure in Western Visayas remained at P6.9 million.
AID
Financial aid and housing materials for those affected by Agaton will be given directly to the beneficiaries to avoid suspicions the assistance is being used for personal or political gains, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said.
DSWD spokeswoman Irene Dumlao, in an interview with DZMM Teleradyo, said her department has a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure that government programs and services are unhampered, not being used for personal or political motives, and go directly to the intended beneficiaries.
She said the local government units (LGUs) will be assisting their department in identifying and verifying the beneficiaries of the Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) program which provides at least P10,000 worth financial or housing material aid to those whose houses were damaged during calamities. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
