DEATH TOLL UNCERTAIN: EXACT NUMBER OF MISSING MAY NEVER BE KNOWN
[PHOTO - WEATHER WARNING: A speaker points at a graph as he talks about the destructive storms that have hit the country, including tropical storm "Sendong" that killed more than 1,000 people in Mindanao, during the Climate Change Congress of the Philippines. The congress warned that more weather-related disasters could strike the country next year with the ongoing La Nina season. (Photo by KJ ROSALES)]
MANILA, DECEMBER 23, 2011 (BULLETIN) By AFP and BEN R. ROSARIO - Philippine Red Cross secretary-general Gwedolyn Pang on Thursday said that the exact toll of tropical storm "Sendong" may never be known as some of those reported missing may in fact be among the dead, and there could be many more whose disappearance was never reported.
"Many will never be found and we don't know how many are really missing. No one will report them because entire families were swept away," Pang added.
"By this time, there will be no survivors, just dead bodies," National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director Benito Ramos added.
He said bodies of victims of "Sendong" still litter the waters off Northern Mindanao.
The official death toll from last weekend's disaster, which swept away shantytowns built near major rivers, has exceeded a thousand but some authorities said hundreds more people could be missing and may never be found.
Ramos put the death toll at 1,010 while the NRRMC put the number of missing at 51.
Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz said that in his city alone, more than 400 residents had been reported missing, with another 283 confirmed dead.
"We could only assume they are dead already. There is so much mud that has to be cleared up and maybe the missing are buried deep inside," Cruz said.
Iligan and nearby Cagayan de Oro accounted for most of the confirmed deaths so far.
A navy vessel recovered 11 badly decomposed bodies off the coastal town of Salay last Wednesday, navy spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Omar Tonsay told AFP.
"Recovering bodies at sea is difficult because of the sheer volume of debris. You have to ram logs and risk holing your hull or entangling your propellers," Tonsay added.
Ramos said the maritime search could continue for two more weeks, but warned that many bodies may have sunk underwater and would never be found.
The main priority now is finding permanent shelter for the 309,000 people displaced by the floods, particularly the more than 43,000 housed in cramped evacuation centers, he said.
Health officials have warned of the risk of epidemics breaking out at the camps, which remain without proper water supply and sanitation.
Many of those in the evacuation centers are forbidden from returning home as the flood-prone areas have been identified by government as too dangerous for human habitation.
Aid pours
With rescue officials slowly losing hope on survivors, relief aid continues to pour.
On Thursday, San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito decided to donate his entire salary for 2012 to victims of "Sendong."
Likewise, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines donated US$150,000. Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman accepted the check donation worth US$150,000 from TECO Representative Donald Lee.
Senators also extended assistance to "Sendong" victims.
Senator Manny Villar, through his Manny Villar Jr. Foundation, gave cash donations to mayors of the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan which they may use to buy medicines and food for affected residents.
Aside from cash donations, Villar's foundation distributed grocery items and used clothings to hundreds of storm victims.
Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla flew to Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday and personally led the relief operations, while Sen. Lito Lapid, although out of the country, sent 5,000 bags of relief goods to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
Earlier, Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. sent assorted medicines to affected areas in Northern Mindanao and Negros Oriental.
Aside from the lawmakers, local officials also pitched in to support the storm victims.
The provincial government of Cebu led by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia will give P5 million each to the local governments of Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City; and P1 million each for Dumaguete City and Tanjay City in Negros Oriental. It also sent a 25-man rescue and medical team to Mindanao.
Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino announced Thursday that the provincial government will give at least P1 million each to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also prepared 43,000 "noche buena" packs for "Sendong" victims in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
On Thursday, the Lucio Tan Group's relief drive went full blast with the distribution of food, water, medicine, blankets, and body bags in various areas hit by flood.
Led by its philanthropic arm Tan Yan Kee Foundation and sister companies Asia Brewery, Agua Vida, Tanduay, PMFTC and other partner organizations, the Tan Group began airlifting relief items for 10,000 families through Philippine Airlines (PAL). The flag carrier is also working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private entities for free carriage of relief goods to Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete.
PAL Chairman Lucio Tan visited Cagayan de Oro to lead relief operations with top officials of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Cagayan de Oro Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Federation of Filipino-Chinese Associations of the Philippines, Inc.
All-out war vs illegal logging
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church declared an all-out war against illegal logging and mining in the Cagayan de Oro river basin, following the killer flash flood.
The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, led by Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, backed by civil society groups and local government units have joined hands to ask President Benigno S. Aquino III to declare the Cagayan de Oro a protected watershed area. (With reports from Ellalyn B. de Vera, Rolly T. Carandang, Mario B. Casayuran, Mars W. Mosqueda Jr., Mike U. Crismundo, Liezle Basa Iñigo, and Raymund F. Antonio)
PAGASA upgrading weather monitoring equipment By FRANCIS T. WAKEFIELD December 22, 2011, 4:53pm
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is set to upgrade its monitoring systems in 2012 to further improve its weather forecasting and hazard mitigating capability, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) announced on Thursday.
DoST Secretary Mario G. Montejo said the PAGASA is set to install 1,000 water level sensors in selected major river basins around the country to further improve PAGASA's weather forecasting capability.
"Since the 1980s, only four rivers were installed with sensors to measure water-level rise. The President has given instructions and allotted resources to fast-track our river monitoring system nationwide to aid in forecasting potential floods," Montejo said.
"To enhance rainfall and weather forecasting, we will also improve the integration of data from Doppler radars, satellites, automated weather systems, and rain gauges through numerical model WRF," he added.
Montejo also said that the DoST is looking at enhancing its flood forecasting system to determine expected impact to local communities. This includes the use of several techniques such as the use of 3D maps.
The DoST secretary, at the same time, defended the weather bureau from criticisms that it was not doing its job properly in informing the public of the possible adverse effects of tropical storm "Sendong," which killed hundreds of people in Northern Mindanao and Southern Visayas.
"PAGASA had been doing its job conscientiously," Montejo said. "In fact, places such as Bohol, Surigao, and Camiguin that heeded PAGASA's warning and took appropriate actions had mitigated the effects of Sendong."
Montejo, who was with President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III when he visited areas severely flooded by "Sendong," also said that the flashflood that killed and harmed hundreds of people in Northern Mindanao and southern Visayas as was aggravated by the reported collapse of dams along the Cagayan de Oro River.
"It is most likely that the flashfloods in Cagayan de Oro were caused not only simply by the big volume of rain that fell in the watershed of rivers in those places, but essentially of the reported collapse of dams in the upper parts of the rivers," Montejo said.
Reports from the field that reached the presidential party on the collapse of the dams are being investigated, per instructions of the President, he said.
Montejo said that the continuous rains may have caused the accumulation and build-up of water upstream of the dam.
"At some point, the dams may have collapsed when the trapped water filled with debris overtopped the dam. This could have led to dam breakage and failure," he said.
When the large volume of water trapped behind the landslide debris dams was released, it triggered the flashfloods. The landslide dam-break mechanism caused the flash floods, which would explain the sudden surge of water reported by survivors in Cagayan de Oro," Montejo said.
Montejo pointed out that survivors described the flashfloods as "sudden surge", while post-disaster pictures showed large amounts of mud and debris, including trees, carried by the raging flashfloods.
He also clarified that although the rainfall dumped by "Sendong" was not like that of typhoon "Ondoy" that generated 181 mms. of rain for one day that caused the disastrous flashfloods in 2009. The landslide dam break that happened in "Sendong" had happened in 2004 in Infanta, Quezon and in 2008 in Iloilo, he said.
Earlier, an environmental group blamed the Aquino administration's ineptitude in addressing the country's climate vulnerability and capacity of communities to respond to calamities.
Kalikasan also criticized the Aquino administration for blaming the citizens for the disastrous impacts of tropical storm Sendong (international name: Washi) in Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City and other communities in Mindanao.
"It is the government's responsibility to build the capacity of communities to respond to disasters and natural hazards such as typhoons," Kalikasan national coordinator Clemente Bautista said.
Bautista said the effects of climate change have been blamed for the increasing severity of typhoon impacts in the Philippines, as reports from Iligan City have indicated that even areas never flooded in the past experienced flashfloods.
Citing an earlier report by Climate Change Commission, Bautista said the recent tropical cyclones "Pedring" and "Quiel" left P15 billion in agricultural and infrastructural damage and demonstrated the effects of climate change in the Philippines.
"The government shifted the blame game on climate change, but does not even lift a finger to address the current environmental crisis brought about by flawed policies and programs," Bautista said.
"Despite President Aquino's recent signing of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP), anti-environment laws such as the Mining Act of 1995 and the Forestry Code of 1975 are still in place. Mining corporations have even been exempted from EO 23's total log ban. The budget for disaster preparedness has even been vetoed and cut," Bautista explained.
Kalikasan supported Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino's call for Pres. Aquino to reverse his veto of the P5-billion budget for calamity preparedness in the 2011 budget.
Bautista noted that the lack of response from both the community and the government can be linked to the lack of pre-disaster preparedness activities such as education and training for citizens and disaster personnel. (With a report from Ellalyn B. De Vera)
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