4 drown as heavy rains batter Bicol, W. Visayas

WATERWORLD Residents of Victorias City in Negros Occidental wade through floodwaters to higher grounds. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines — Two people drowned while five others were rescued in southern Negros Occidental as heavy rains battered the Visayas and Bicol region on New Year’s Day.

In Bicol, two people died while four others remained missing in Camarines Sur and Sorsogon provinces, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Sunday.

Commander Ludovico Librilla Jr., chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Negros Occidental, identified the fatalities as Junjun Solomon, 22, and Justine Alostor de Leon, 8.

Solomon drowned at Belgium Resort in Barangay Talaban, Himamaylan City, Librilla said.

De Leon and his three siblings were walking along the beach in Barangay Asia, Hinoba-an town, at 7 a.m. when their father, Benjie, noticed that they had gone into the water. Benjie ran to rescue them but Justine was missing.

At 10:10 a.m., the PCG found De Leon and rushed him to the hospital. The boy was declared dead on arrival.

According to the NDRRMC, a person drowned after a boat capsized in Garchitorena, camaranies Sur. The body was recovered on New Year’s day.

Another fatality was reported in Pilar, Sorsogon, when the victim was swept away by floodwaters. His body was retrieved on Saturday.

Four other people have been reported missing in Garchitorena, Camarines Sur; Bulan, Sorsogon, and Labo, Camarines Norte. Two of them were reportedly passengers of a boat that sank on New Year’s Eve.

The NDRRMC stressed that the reports on fatalities are still for verification by its management of the dead and missing cluster.

The Coast Guard rescued five people in Hinoba-an and Himamaylan.

Continuous rain brought floods to Victorias, Talisay and Silay cities and EB Magalona in Negros Occidental, killing one person, destroying 27 houses and damaging 45 others, said Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division.

The body of Ramil Panes, a resident of Victorias, was found near a bridge on Saturday morning by his family after he failed to return home since New Year’s Eve, Mayor Francis Palanca said.

The NDRRMC said that the rain displaced 1,012 families, comprising 3,300 people, in Bicol and in Western Visayas.

Palanca said the floods destroyed 18 houses, all made of light materials, in Victorias.

In Talisay, nine houses were destroyed and 40 were damaged, City Administrator Jonathan Ealdama said. Five houses were damaged in Silay, Mayor Mark Golez said.

The Negrense Volunteers for Change delivered about 10,000 Mingo meals to 11 communities in Victorias and Silay, according to its president Millie Kilayko.

Mingo meal is a nutritious instant complementary food made of rice, “mongo” (mung beans), and “malunggay” (moringa).

“Floodwaters swept away their food, their memorabilia and expectations of a happy New Year morning. Instead, they spent the morning in evacuation centers and moved back home by noon to begin the messy task of cleaning up and recouping what they could,” Kilayko said.