Retrieval ops for Leyte landslide victims end

STILL HOPEFUL Rescuers continue to look for at least 60 people buried in a landslide at Barangay Kantagnos in Baybay City, even as search and retrieval operations have been stopped in other parts of Leyte province. —PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIPPINE ARMY 802ND INFANTRY BRIGADE

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines — Except for one village, the search and retrieval operations for missing residents who were buried in separate landslides in Leyte province ended on Tuesday.

Authorities deemed it proper to stop the operations in the villages of Mailhi and Bunga, both in Baybay City, and in Abuyog town as the grounds in these areas have been “very unstable.”

The search will, however, continue in Barangay Kantagnos in Baybay City where 60 people remain missing. The village of Mailhi has four missing individuals while Bunga and Pangasugan have one missing person each.

Data from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) in Baybay showed that at least 123 bodies were recovered while 66 had yet to be found. In Abuyog, 58 fatalities were recorded while 99 remained missing.

Col. Noel Vestuir, commander of the Army’s 802nd Brigade which assisted in the retrieval operations in Leyte, said rescuers are at risk due to the ground condition in the area.

“It’s deceiving. On the surface, you’ll think [the ground is] hard but it’s actually soft. It can bury our personnel,” he said.

Looting

Vestuir said they would shift to ensuring the safety of residents and securing properties still standing in other landslide-hit villages.

“We have received a report that in some barangays, like Bunga, there were [incidents] of looting,” he said.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) had issued an advisory on the possible danger to rescuers in areas hit by the landslides, hence the retrieval operations were stopped.

The landslides in Leyte were caused by the huge volume of rainwater dumped by Tropical Storm “Agaton” (international name: Megi) on April 10.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said P76.737 million worth of assistance had been given to families affected by Agaton.

Tree coverPacencia Milan, an environmentalist based in Baybay City, said the landslides in the city, affecting over 10 barangays, could be attributed to the lack of tree cover.

Milan, also a former president of the Visayas State University, said illegal cutting of trees had been reported in the village of Kantagnos, one of the areas severely hit by Agaton.

“There was continuous rain for three to four days, and there were not enough trees to hold (the rainwater),” she said.

Milan hoped that the deadly landslide would serve as a “wake-up call” for the city government.“I hope they will be conscious of replenishing the trees. There is no forest restoration here in Baybay,” she said.

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