607 still missing in Tacloban City

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

TACLOBAN CITY—At least 607 persons are still missing in the city following the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in November last year, but the number may be higher because it is based only on estimates made by village officials and relatives searching for their loved ones, according to an official doing the tally.

Rita de la Cruz, social worker of the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) office, said many of those who died but still unaccounted for did not come from the city.

De la Cruz, who was given the task of doing an inventory of those killed and missing as a result of Yolanda, said her office had so far counted 2,357 dead in the city alone.

Of the 607 who have not been found close to a year after the typhoon struck, at least 300 are from San Jose District, considered the worst-hit area in the city. The rest are from other districts.

“I feel sorry for the loved ones of these missing persons,” De la Cruz said. “For them, they would rather have their bones found or recovered than not finding them.”

She could not say that the number of missing persons in the city was the final tally because of still “unconfirmed reports” about bodies of city residents being found and buried without notice to authorities in two towns in Leyte—Basey and Babatngon.

The reports claim the bodies are those of city residents, De La Cruz said.

Finding the remains is important, she said, because this would bring closure to relatives who have not stopped the search for their loved ones.

Also, she said, relatives of those who died could not claim financial assistance from the government if they could not produce the bodies.

The families of those killed during the typhoon are entitled to P10,000 each in financial assistance from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

For them to qualify, the OCD has set requirements, including a death certificate, a document that the relatives could not secure if the bodies of their loved ones are not found.

Rehabilitation is continuing in the city and other parts of Central Visayas, but mostly through the efforts of private individuals and organizations, such as the Tzu Chi Foundation which is now building 2,000 houses for survivors in Ormoc City, another devastated area.

Tzu Chi is building houses with floor areas of 21-27 square meters on a 50-hectare lot donated by Mayor Edward Codilla.