Cebu City rolls out person tracker website

The Cebu City government developed a website to help those who are looking for their relatives in Leyte and Samar who may have taken shelter in one of the evacuation centers in Cebu.

The finder.cebucity.gov.ph provides a list of the evacuees and the status of their stay in the city.

The website developed by the city’s Management Information and Computer Services (MICS) in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development presents a list of the evacuees in alphabetical order, their gender, age, place of origin, the evacuation center where they are staying and the status of their stay.

Spaces where also provided for their contact numbers and destinations once discharged from the evacuation centers but these have not been filled up as of last night.

Data listed on Cebu City’s Evacuees Finder is based on the DSWD’s Displaced Family Assistance Card and data from their camp managers assigned to the different evacuation centers.

Those who do not have Internet connections may call the MICS office at 411-0177 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays for assistance.  Call takers have been identified to answer queries.

A team of forensic experts from the International Police Organization (Interpol) arrived in Cebu yesterday to help in the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) of fatalities of supertyphoon Yolanda.

The Incident Response Team (IRT) headed by Interpol’s Director of Operational Support Michael O’Connell visited Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday before they head to Tacloban City today.

“We are here to support the national response, provide advice, guidance and assessment within Tacloban area and the wider community. We will give advice and guidance to the national authorities in this significant event and if there is a broader requirement for other international support, then we will look into how to assist the national authorities in bringing that in,” O’Connell said.

Five years ago, the Interpol also sent an IRT to the Philippines to provide DVI assistance after the Princess of the Stars sea tragedy during typhoon Frank where more than 800 lives perished.

Challenges

A press statement in the Interpol website, said the team will be assessing strategic and structural challenges, including the possible need for temporary mortuary sites equipped with refrigerated containers and mobile forensic laboratories or work facilities.