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Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Hopes dim: radar finds no life sign
GUINSAUGON, Southern Leyte -- Uncertain if they were digging in the right place, rescue workers tried Tuesday to find the mud-swamped elementary school of Barangay Guinsaugon, amid fears that time may have run out for finding survivors.
“We have not found any structure to indicate the location of the school,” said Joel Son, in charge of a group of miners working at the site in St. Bernard town, Southern Leyte. “It’s all mud.” It was another frustrating day, with no one found alive.
The official death toll rose to 107 and officials fear it could surpass 1,000, after a wall of mud and boulders crashed down on the farming village of Guinsaugon last Friday morning.
Rescue workers were digging at two places—one where the school was believed to have sat close to the mountain, the other 200 meters down the hill, where the landslide could have carried it.
Pray more
“We will still search continuously, but we should be prepared that... you’re going to have a mass grave right there,” said Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross. “How can you retrieve those who were buried so deep?”
In Cebu, Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal appealed Tuesday to the faithful to continue praying for possible survivors in the massive landslide.
He also appealed to people to avoid blaming anyone for the disaster.
“This is a tragedy that came all of the sudden. We should not accuse anybody. Instead, we should pray,” the archbishop said in an ABS-CBN interview.
Eleven barangays were evacuated Saturday, amid threats of further landslides. Residents of five of these barangays were told it was safe to return home Tuesday.
But residents of Barangay Tambis Uno refused to leave the evacuation center, saying they were scared they too might get buried in muck.
But St. Bernard Council Herminigildo Castil said overcrowding in the evacuation centers might endanger the people’s health.
Signs of life
For now, Amancio Ponio, 41, told Sun.Star Superbalita that they were well taken care of and that social workers were helping them cope with the trauma.
While grateful for all the help, Evangeline Arca, 38, said it was time she thought about building a new house and making a living. She expects her children to resume school next week. Her husband is among the hundreds missing.
She no longer wants to return to Guinsaugon.
High-tech gear detected some underground sounds late Monday, creating a buzz of excitement and adrenaline among troops, miners and volunteers whose hopes of finding life had all but vanished.
But Tuesday, the buzz was gone again, replaced by a grim workmanlike attitude.
“As we’d dig deeper, we’d try to dig wider, but with the rain last night, there were little landslides happening around us,” said Lieutenant Jack Farley, who was heading the US Marine contingent. “The soil here is so unstable.”
Threats
The school is believed to be buried by up to 35 meters (100 feet) of muck.
The threat of more rain-triggered landslides also slowed the search, and it was unclear if the scratching and tapping noises that were heard Monday came from survivors or just ground water or mud settling.
The smell of rotting bodies wafted through the command post of the relief effort, one kilometer from the landslide site.
Some of the unidentified bodies were buried in mass graves last Sunday.
Dr. Adelaida Asperin, a Department of Health official in Leyte, said two children had been isolated and were being treated for chicken pox in evacuation centers where families that lost their homes are staying.
She said there was no threat of a disease outbreak at the centers.
The disaster has provoked a massive relief effort in Cebu, with volunteers, civic groups and media organizations rounding up clothes, food, cash, drinking water, medicine and other supplies for survivors and evacuees.
No teams
But, citing the risks, Cebu City Mayor Osmeña is no longer sending any group of rescuers to Southern Leyte.
He already pulled out last Saturday afternoon a three-man rescue team from the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf), which extended medical assistance and evaluated the situation there.
“I’m not going to put our people at risk to recover dead bodies,” he said. “The whole world is already there. Let them handle it.”
The Eruf team earlier told Sun.Star Cebu that rescuers from government agencies and volunteers are not lacking, but survivors and evacuees need medicines, food, drinking water, clothes and medical supplies.
The mayor said he does not want a Cebu contingent to become liabilities when they reach the area. “They are just going to be part of the problem. Who is going to feed them there?”
The Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), in partnership with Globe Telecom, Junior Chamber International, the Cebu City Government and the many concerned individuals and businesses behind the Tabang Southern Leyte Relief Operation, will hold a concert tomorrow at the Fuente Osmeña oval to raise funds for the victims.
Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said the concert will start at 3 p.m. and will end at midnight. (AP/With JECT, RHM & JST)
(February 22, 2006 issue)
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