INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The government failed to take advantage of an early warning system that could have been used to warn Cagayan de Oro and Iligan residents via short messaging service, or “text,” of the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Sendong.”
Flash floods triggered by Sendong claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people, mostly in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Northern Mindanao. Hundreds remained missing.
The country’s top telecom firms said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) had failed to issue an advisory that would have prompted the companies to send messages urging people to flee their homes and seek higher ground before floods swept their low-lying communities.
“We already have that system in place. I am not aware of any attempt by the NDRRMC to use it during the [storm],” said Ramon Isberto, spokesperson of leading mobile network Smart Communications.
Isberto said the early warning system via text, dubbed “1456,” was established in June in response to the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11.
The number 1456 was also established as the official number for disaster advisories via text to avoid hoax messages sent by other mobile phone users to spread panic.
Sending text messages is the easiest way to reach Filipinos, nine of every 10 of whom use a mobile phone.
The deal to put up the emergency warning system was signed by the NDRRMC, Philippine Information Agency, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the country’s top three telecom companies.
The warning system was supposed to inform residents in certain areas if they were at risk during natural calamities. Under the agreement, warnings should originate from the NDRRMC.
NTC approval
These advisories are approved by the NTC before being sent out to subscribers free of charge. “The NTC is just a conduit. The warning should have come from the NDRRMC,” Isberto told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“I don’t know what happened but it should have been used,” he added.
Globe Telecom said the company did not receive any order from the NTC to issue an advisory during the storm.
“It seems that the government was not ready for Sendong, or maybe the NDRRMC office in CDO and Iligan was not as alert as it should have been,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe Telecom vice president for corporate communications.
She said the warning system had been used to warn residents during previous typhoons. Unfortunately, the system stayed idle during Sendong’s onslaught on December 17.
Conflicting reports
In the disaster-stricken areas, conflicting reports led to a surge in the number of fatalities to nearly 1,500 Tuesday morning.
The NDRRMC corrected its figure in the afternoon, saying the official death toll remained at 1,249. It was the same figure given by NDRRMC Executive Director Benito Ramos on Monday when he was interviewed from Cagayan de Oro.
The agency cited conflicting reports from the Department of Health and the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
No new bodies were recovered for the first time since the massive search and retrieval operations for victims began on the morning of December 17.
Iligan and Cagayan de Oro accounted for 1,152 of the fatalities. Half of the recovered bodies or 632 remained unidentified since they were already in an advanced state of decomposition.
The death toll in other provinces was 43 in Bukidnon; 38 in Negros Oriental; five in Compostela Valley; four in Lanao del Sur; three in Zamboanga del Norte; two in Camarines Sur; and one each in Surigao del Sur and Cebu.
Lost count
For the first time, the NDRRMC declared it had “lost count” of the people reported missing, who may be either among the unidentified corpses or among the bodies that were buried at sea where most of the dead were recovered.
At least 771 bodies from Cagayan de Oro have been recovered, of which 382 have not been identified, according to the latest NDRRMC report.
In Iligan, at least 381 bodies have been recovered of which 250 have not been identified.
In Cagayan de Oro, the stench has become stronger by the day. Ten days after floods swept more than 20 villages here, the thinning layers of mud that remained failed to conceal what were decaying underneath.
Bodies under debris
In Barangay (village) Lower Balulang, for example, residents continued to beg for help in retrieving what were believed to be bodies under the carpet of debris.
Even volunteers from different private organizations, who conducted feeding programs in the Ilaya area of the village, said the odor was unmistakably that of decomposing bodies.
A day before Christmas, militiamen and soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel Erwin Lamzon of the 23rd Infantry Battalion, conducted similar retrieval operations in Barangay Macasandig.
Using K-9s, Lamzon’s group was able to dig a body from underneath a pile of branches. Another body was found floating in what remained of the floods.
On Tuesday, Lamzon’s group continued its operation in Barangay Macanhan but was not quite successful even with the sniffing dogs around.
“We know that there are still those buried underneath,” a villager of Lower Balulang said.
Major Eugene Osias, the spokesperson of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, said the number of missing remained uncertain with government agencies releasing differing figures.
But Osias said what was certain was that the death toll would continue to climb as more bodies were being retrieved.
Sickness
Dr. Jerri Calingasan, city health officer, said residents living in cramped evacuation centers had started complaining of diseases.
Some of them were suffering from diarrhea, acute respiratory infection and fever. This was due to the lack of clean drinking water and the recurrence of rain during the past few days, he said.
“The biggest problem the evacuation centers are facing is the lack of toilets and bathrooms,” Calingasan said.
Trauma
For those who survive the diseases, trauma could prove fatal in the long run. Dr. Benson Go, a psychiatrist, said many evacuees needed psychosocial interventions.
“The purpose is for them to express their feelings and to be able to accept what happened to them,” he said.
The NDRRMC said 54,795 people from 11,500 families remained housed in evacuation centers, with another 321,914 others from 62,000 families served outside evacuation centers.
At least 42,325 homes were destroyed either totally or partially by Sendong, according to the NDRRMC.