Food issue prevented early deployment of troops to Tacloban
The government did not immediately send a large number of troops to Tacloban City despite the desperate scramble for food because the troops themselves might also starve, said Eduardo del Rosario, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Del Rosario also told reporters on Thursday that most of the security forces in Eastern Visayas (covering Leyte and Samar provinces) were lost in the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on Nov. 8.
The national government began to send policemen and soldiers in batches on Sunday after looting broke out.
As of Thursday, Del Rosario said 1,200 soldiers and 800 policemen had been deployed to Tacloban City.
He said they did not send a big number of security forces at once because “we might suffocate” the devastated city with additional mouths to feed.
“We also have a problem on the ground with food and water. We might be adding troops that are not needed. Another problem is how to feed the soldiers and policemen we will send there,” said Del Rosario, a retired Army general.
“So we must optimize what is on the ground. If they need more, if peace and order is deteriorating, we will send more. But the report on the ground states that peace and order is improving,” he added.
“What’s important is we establish presence in the urban areas because that’s where the problem is, just like in Tacloban City,” Del Rosario said.
He said aside from restoring security, the same troops would also help retrieve cadavers.
“Even debris cleaning, they’re also doing that,” he said.
On Monday, Nov. 11, a warehouse of the National Food Authority in Alangalang, Leyte, collapsed when a mob ransacked it. At least 11 people died.
According to reports, the 983-strong Philippine National Police force in the Eastern Visayas regional office based in Palo, Leyte, was nearly decimated.
Only 34 have showed up for duty, the rest declared missing although their names were not included on the NDRRMC’s official list of missing persons.
The Army’s 8th Infantry Division (8ID) based in Catbalogan City also suffered undetermined losses.
Brig. Gen. Jet Belarmino, 8ID commanding general, was tasked to head Task Force Yolanda in Region 8, according to Del Rosario.
Initial reports reaching the military said two soldiers died while at least 21 Air Force and Navy personnel in Tacloban City were injured in the typhoon.
