Saturday, February 25, 2006
Leyte rescue teams suffer blow: school remains lost
GUINSAUGON, Southern Leyte -- The Philippine Army said Friday that a roof spotted in a mudslide-stricken village was not from a school that was buried with more than 240 students and teachers, dealing another blow to the chances of finding survivors.
"According to our rescuers, it is not the school roof. It is the roofing of a house," Major General Bonifacio Ramos said at the site.
Senators Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, said chances were slim of finding any survivors a week after a mountainside collapsed and covered the village of Guinsaugon.
Disruption
Intermittent rains again disrupted the rescue efforts, forcing rescuers to abandon some of the sites considered too dangerous because of a risk of further landslides.
Ramos, overall commander of the operation, said the government and geologists will make a decision on when to shift from rescue to retrieval operations.
Three more bodies were retrieved Friday, bringing the official death toll to 132.
Fading hope
"Technically, I don't see any possibility of retrieving survivors," said Puji Pujiono, leader of the UN disaster assessment and coordination team at the site.
"This kind of disaster leaves a very small chance of survival, that's a reality. If there is one or two, it would be a miracle," he said.
The school building -- the focus of the operation -- hasn't been found.
Rescuers spotted the remains of a three-story house that, according to witnesses, stood near the school.
It moved about 500 meters from the original site, and only the top of the second floor could be seen, but it was destroyed.
Much of the mud throughout the 40-hectare landslide zone remains unsettled, especially after the continued rains.
The dangers were underscored Thursday when a group of rescue workers had to be rescued after getting stuck while trying to extricate a body.
P500 donation
Meanwhile, congressmen, who are mostly considered as members of the so-called "Millionaires Club," donated from their own pockets amounts ranging from as low as P500 to as high as P30,000 for the victims of the landslide.
A list leaked to the media showed that fundraising for the Feb. 4 stampede victims were diverted instead to the landslide victims.
The list was dated Feb. 18, 2006.
It was Bukidnon Representative Juan Miguel Zubiri who donated the biggest amount of P30,000 while some, despite being millionaires as per their Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth would show, donated only P500.
Ten congressmen reportedly donated P500 to the fund-raising pot and these include Mandaluyong City Representative Benjamin Abalos Jr., Davao Oriental Representative Mayo Almario, Baguio Representative Mauricio Domogan and Sulu Representative Hussin Amin.
Presidential son and Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo donated P3,000. (AP/Sunnex)
(February 25, 2006 issue)
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