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Sunday, December 28, 2003
3.6T Leyte victims in need of houses
By Oscar C. Pineda
SOUTHERN LEYTE--Left homeless by landslides, families in Barangay Punta, San Francisco are now taking shelter in bamboo huts they built earlier this month for their patron saints.
Tragedy, not fiesta or Christmas celebrations, is on the minds of landslide victims struggling to build their homes and their lives again.
Southern Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias is now eyeing three possible relocation sites for the affected families in San Francisco, one of three badly damaged towns in the province's southern tip.
By government's count, 252 families in San Francisco alone were displaced by last week's landslides.
Throughout the province, at least 3,604 persons (in 955 families) were driven from their homes when mud collapsed on the coastal villages of San Francisco, Liloan and San Ricardo, all in the southern tip of Southern Leyte.
As of Saturday, the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council reported the most deaths in San Francisco at 105 persons. This was followed by San Ricardo, with 24 deaths and the most number of affected families in the province, at 557.
Liloan reported 22 deaths, with 93 affected families.
Isolated
Initial reports showed that tropical storm Zigzag did not do much damage to the province, as it hovered over Bicol and Samar Saturday.
But San Ricardo, which is in the southernmost tip of Panaon Island in Southern Leyte, was again isolated.
Last week, landslides blocked roads to the town. There was no way for rescue teams and aid to reach it but by boat. With boats barred from leaving Saturday; the island was isolated even further.
Governor Lerias, however, who visited San Ricardo last Dec. 23, assured that the relief goods delivered were enough to last until after New Year.
In San Francisco town, about 96 families from Barangay Punta are temporarily housed within parish grounds.
The distribution of relief goods in San Francisco town went on smoothly and no problems were reported so far, said Lerias.
In chapels
But the town has no water, said San Francisco Mayor Eddie Yuboc.
Mud blocked the town's water reservoir, leaving residents with no choice but to get water from hand pumps. The parish center, the temporary relocation site, has its own electric water pump.
Yuboc assured that part of the calamity funds will be spent to repair the town's water reservoir.
The Municipal Council recently approved the release of the town's P900,000 calamity fund.
While waiting for materials to build new homes, displaced residents are using 27 bamboo and nipa mini-chapels (about three by three meters wide) that they built in preparation for the feast of San Francisco last Dec. 7.
The chapels used to house the different images of patron saints from the barangays. After the feast, the patron images were removed. Now the chapels shelter homeless families from the elements.
Governor Lerias explained that officials are still validating whether the Provincial Government needs to buy relocation sites, or if these can be donated.
After validation, survey plans will be made.
Devastation
These will be submitted to President Arroyo, as well as presented to government agencies and private companies that might be able to assist.
For now, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has prevented Punta residents from moving back to their homes, despite some damage from mudflows.
The middle part of Barangay Punta is now crammed with mud and boulders, covering the size of two football fields, sliced by a flowing stream.
Some parts are already dry, though other areas remain knee-deep in mud.
Some houses on the edge of the barangay are still standing, but have been abandoned. Mixed together in the mud are bits of flooring, warped tin roofs and dark wooden beams.
Souvenir photographs and other personal belongings are strewn all over place. A slight stench still floats in the air. A few depressions in the mud, where bodies were earlier retrieved, remain uncovered.
Before the calamity, there were 96 houses in Barangay Punta.
Only 15 remain.
According to Yuboc, San Francisco town has a population of 12,000, most of them dependent on fishing and farming for their livelihood--at nature's mercy, even before last week's tragedy. OCP/Sun.Star Cebu
(December 28, 2003 issue)
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