Is there a crisis or not? Defense, disaster agency chiefs disagree
UPLAND EXTRACTION The Philippine Air Force on Sunday airlifts 14 residents of Sitio Kapatagan in Luayon, Makilala, Cotabato province, who have been isolated in their mountain village since the 6.6-magnitude earthquake that struck central Mindanao on Oct. 29. —PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY-SOCCSKSARGEN
MANILA, Philippines — Acknowledging a humanitarian crisis in Mindanao after a series of powerful earthquakes hit the island, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has ordered the military to ensure order in the distribution of aid to residents displaced by the temblors.
But the head of the national disaster council, Ricardo Jalad, claims there is no humanitarian crisis in Mindanao, saying stores remain open and people who can’t afford to buy food are being aided by the government.
The death toll in two powerful quakes that struck Mindanao in the past week has risen to 21, authorities said on Sunday.
The 6.6-magnitude earthquake that hit the island on Oct. 29 and the 6.5-magnitude quake that struck two days later, which came after a 6.3-magnitude temblor hit on Oct. 16, destroyed buildings and displaced tens of thousands of residents.
Begging for help
Some villagers staying under tents near a highway in Makilala, Cotabato province, were begging for help from passing motorists, carrying placards asking for food and water, a picture published by the Inquirer on Sunday showed.
Rescuers had found more bodies, many crushed by falling debris and landslides caused by the violent shaking, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
The quakes also left 432 residents injured and at least seven people still missing, the council said.
In a message to reporters on Sunday, Lorenzana, who had been tapped by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to lead the government’s relief and security response, said there was a humanitarian crisis in Mindanao, with thousands of families left homeless by the quakes.
“Many houses were destroyed or the residents fled out of fear that their homes would collapse because of the frequent aftershocks,” Lorenzana said.
According to information from the disaster council, 20,957 houses were destroyed and 6,888 others damaged in the Davao region, Soccsksargen and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao by last week’s two quakes.
Relief operations
The council said 4,300 families from 200 barangays, or 21,000 people, were staying in 30 shelters in Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental and Cotabato.
It said 1,493 families, or 7,465 people, were displaced by the quakes but opted not to stay in the shelters.
Lorenzana tapped Jalad to oversee the relief operations and directed the Army to set up checkpoints on all roads leading to disaster areas “to ensure there is order and that only accredited and legitimate relief groups or individuals are allowed in the area.”
“This will also prevent kibitzers … from getting in,” Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana cited Jalad’s assurance that there were sufficient relief goods at the shelters.
“It just needs proper management of the distribution system to ensure that everyone is served,” he said.
Lorenzana said he had received reports that some people were “rushing the relief vehicles and getting anything they can to the detriment of others.”
He said he had directed the military to clear the highways of people blocking vehicles carrying relief goods and return them to their communities where “they can be served properly.”
‘The market is functioning’
Jalad denied there was a humanitarian crisis, saying “[t]he market is functioning.”
“There is food supply so people who have money can buy. The problem is those who have no money,” Jalad said.
He gave assurance that the government was airlifting relief goods to Mindanao.
“The whole of Mindanao has food supply, so there’s no problem,” he said.
On Sunday, rescuers continued their evacuation of families whose houses were endangered by landslides, while the last 14 residents who had been trapped in the mountainous village of Luayon in Makilala, Cotabato, were airlifted to safety.
An Air Force plane flew the residents out of the village that had been isolated due to deep fissures on the ground and landslides caused by the Oct. 31 earthquake.
Cotabato acting Vice Gov. Shirlyn Macasarte-Villanueva, who joined the rescue mission, said she saw “indescribable destruction” in Makilala during an aerial tour of quake damage on Saturday.
“From the helicopter, I saw children and women waving white flags. I also saw a group of people with their bags. I think they are leaving the area,” Villanueva said.
She said her group dropped food to the residents, as the helicopter could not land because the area was cluttered with debris. —With reports from Jeoffrey Mamtiem, Abner Francisco and AFP
