Storm victims want cleanup to be a priority as retrieval operations continue

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

GETTING back on track has been slow, particularly in two barangays in Cagayan de Oro City, which were worst hit by Sendong.

While retrieval and recovery operations continue, residents believe cleaning up should be a priority as well, as the debris left by the flood on streets and waterways could cause another problem during heavy rains.

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More than a week after the typhoon, 80 barangays in the eastern part of Cagayan de Oro City still do not have potable water and electricity.

The Cebu City Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (LDRRMC) will help the Cagayan de Oro City Government set up a system that will improve coordination among concerned government agencies and offices during disasters.

LDRRMC Executive Director Alvin Santillana, who is in Cagayan de Oro, said this will start by establishing a one-stop shop so that residents can address their concerns to the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Philippine Red Cross social welfare services and private volunteers like the Red Cross in one area.

Coordination

Other government offices can also put up their desks in the area to tackle concerns of typhoon victims.

Santillana noted a lack of coordination among concerned agencies in Cagayan de Oro, such that the number of victims differs from one agency to another.

A team from LDRRMC helped the National Bureau of Investigation 7 to identify the dead in Cagayan de Oro. The joint team has identified 80 bodies so far.

Cebu City Hall also donated 100 coffins and will send another LDRRMC team before the end of the year to continue identifying casualties.

Of the 23 barangays that were hit by Sendong, Barangays Macasanding and Barangay Consolacion suffered the most.

Most of the casualties (1,100 as of Dec. 25) and those reported missing (1,979) were from the two barangays that sit next to the Cagayan River.

Wiped out

Capt. Christian Uy of the 4th Infantry Division’s Civil Military Operations Group said retrieval and recovery operations continue, though.

Barangay Macasandig hosts two socialized housing projects, Balangay and USA (United Settlers Association), which have been wiped out by the river’s rampaging waters.

The site of the housing projects is now part of the Cagayan River’s waterway.

In Barangay Consolacion, water flooded the public elementary school and six districts where about 3,000 households were located.

The debris left by the flood could obstruct waterways when heavy rains occur, said JB Deveza, safety officer of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and a local correspondent for a national daily.

“There will be another disaster in the making,” he added.

Cleanup

Lourderico Pedimonte, 36, of Barangay Consolacion, fears the same.

Pedimonte and his neighbors have been cleaning their homes since Thursday last week.

Sixty-year-old Merly Fuentes said the cleanup is made more difficult without water and the smell of decomposing bodies.

Naomi Lactao, a lecturer of psychology at a local university, said the uncollected muck may trigger negative emotions on the part of Sendong’s survivors.

“When residents here wake up in the morning and the piles of garbage have been cleared, they’ll feel positive,” she said.

Journalists

Media associations also helped Cagayan de Oro colleagues who were victims of Sendong.

The NUJP, together with the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network and the Center for Community Journalism and Development, formed part of Tabang Media, which has been providing assistance to journalists affected by Sendong.

The Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) thanked the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ) for the financial assistance from Cebu journalists.

CFBJ president Elias Baquero said the federation will be sending P15,000 to Cagayan de Oro and another P15,000 to Iligan City.

The Capitol Association of Reporters in Tri-media (Cart), a member of CFBJ, was able to raise P14,080 last week for Sendong victims.

Cart officials, who are covering Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s visit in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, turned over the financial assistance to the COPC and NUJP.

Several Cagayan de Oro journalists lost their homes while others lost their loved ones in the flood caused by Sendong.