CDO folk complain of litter, mud

Henry Lazola, 38, a radio broadcaster, arrived at the office of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club wearing muddied rubber boots. He was fuming mad. A month after the floods, the street outside his home in Barangay (village) Carmen is still filled with mud.

Mud and garbage, some as high as two feet, litter Acacia Street, a long stretch of road on the western side of the Cagayan de Oro River. Uprooted trees and branches still hang on power lines while leaking water pipes make the street more unbearable.

“Where is the heavy equipment of city hall? Where’s the mayor who capitalizes on the plight of the poor? What is he waiting for? Election?” Lazola asked as other media practitioners listened.

Lazola’s house was badly damaged by the flood. “We sleep on the balcony where it is cold. My grandchildren is enduring the cold,” he said.

Lazola admitted seeing a small backhoe clearing the substreets of Acacia. But at the back of the backhoe hangs a tarpaulin with the words: “Cleaning efforts of Councilor Alvin Calingin.”

“What kind of help is that? You help and yet capitalize on it,” Lazola said, his anger growing.

Jesus Asinero, who also lives on Acacia Street, said a grader passed through their street last week, sweeping aside mud.

“They just plowed through and left, leaving the mud thicker outside our homes, making life more difficult for us,” Asinero said.

“They can’t leave this mud here, there’s garbage everywhere and the garbage trucks that ply here are small, and they take only the garbage, not the mud,” he added.

Barangay Carmen is the bailiwick of former Rep. Rolando Uy, now the barangay chair and archrival of Mayor Vicente Emano.

“They are rivals, and we do not see any help coming from them,” a resident said.

Roel Condeza Chaves, an employee of the provincial government, also complained of city hall’s inaction. Residents have to wear rubber boots and walk through the mud before reaching the jeepney terminal, he said.

Another resident said the city government also needs to clear the drainage system as it is clogged with mud. “Water can’t pass through it,” he said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Northern Mindanao said the floods affected 70,889 families with 390,573 persons in this city and in the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte and Bukidnon.

The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) has reported that 1,490 bodies have been recovered since Dec. 17.

In Cagayan de Oro, 737 dead were reported, 419 of them identified. In Iligan City, of the 693 recovered bodies, only 408 have been identified. Bukidnon had 45 deaths, of which 39 have been identified.

Nine bodies were also recovered in the Zamboanga Peninsula, while six others were fished off the municipalities of Lopez Jaena and Jimenez in Misamis Occidental.

Debriefing

Fewer people are now staying in evacuation centers as more of them have transferred to relocation sites.

In Cagayan de Oro, the 28 evacuation centers accommodate 3,054 families, while Iligan City houses 1,742 families in 15 different centers.

Stress debriefing, spearheaded by different government and nongovernment groups, for children and adults have also started.

Survivors have gradually opened up, sharing their fears, anxieties and experiences.

On Jan. 6, an evacuee at the City Central School Evacuation Center committed suicide in the presence of other evacuees. Roy Navarro, 33, stabbed himself in the abdomen and throat because his family was apparently not counted among the first batch of evacuees to be relocated to a new home.

The DSWD, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, also plans to set up women-friendly spaces in evacuation centers, for lactating mothers, counseling and other social services.

Charmaine Tadlas, regional information officer, said the DSWD is taking care of one child who has since been separated from his relatives in Cagayan de Oro.

Iligan City has an initial record of 15 separated and orphaned children.

The RDRRMC also reported that infrastructure damage has reached P994.85 million. Bobby Lagsa and Cai Panlilio, Inquirer Mindanao