MikeLigalig.com

TAGUM CITY -- (UPDATE 3) The body of the barangay (village) chairman of Masara in Maco town, Compostela Valley province, has been recovered, bringing to nine the fatalities in a series of landslides since Saturday afternoon, police said.

Fourteen other persons remain missing and are believed trapped under tons of mud and boulders that buried a large portion of the mining village, Senior Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa, Compostela Valley police director, said.

Another 17 residents were injured and 70 families in Barangay (Village) Masara in Maco town have been evacuated by search and rescue teams, Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, head of the Southern Mindanao police office, said.
.
Some 18 houses were completely destroyed, he said. The Office of Civil Defense in Region 11 said that 72 houses were buried in the landslides.

Masara barangay captain Jovencio Anquera was one of three persons who died in a new landslide that buried several homes early Sunday.

Police said the barangay (village) chairman of Masara, in Maco, Compostela Valley was among the three persons who died in a new landslide that buried several homes there early Sunday.

As rescue workers continued searching for survivors, food and medicine for the injured began trickling into Masara since Saturday night despite continuous downpours and the provincial government mobilized more personnel to help in rescue efforts, Dr. Jeorgie Arvin Legaspi, provincial health officer, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) on Sunday.

"Rescue and retrieval operations are still going on. The second landslide occurred at around 3 a.m. today [Sunday]," Josephine Frasco, provincial social welfare officer said in a text message.

Dela Rosa identified those killed in the Saturday landslide as Esteban Mamilit, 59; Evelyn Sellano, 8; Harold Sanchez, 53; and Rosemarie Labor, 29; and her children Maria Cristina, 3, and Maria Teresita, 2.

"Eight victims were also pulled alive and were rushed to various hospitals for treatment of their injuries," Dela Rosa said.

He said rescuers on Sunday retrieved the body of Anquera, nine-year old Aaron Cristine Perando and a certain Magamayo, said to be a security guard of the mining company in the area.

Seven survivors were also rushed to hospitals, he said.

Frasco said personnel from the provincial and municipal disaster coordinating councils, civilian rescue groups, as well as the Compostela Valley chapter of the Philippine National Red Cross, were also mobilized and have responded to the disaster-hit area.

"We have no exact report yet on the number of casualties. This morning's landslide is bigger than the previous one," Governor Arturo Uy said, referring to Saturday's landslide that killed six persons.

Several Philippine Air Force helicopters were seen hovering over the area. Dela Rosa said the Armed Forces' air assets had been mobilized to airlift evacuees in the event of another massive landslide and to transport relief goods.

Uy said he already issued a warning for residents to relocate to safer and more stable grounds. A landslide in the same area last year killed 10 persons.

After the August 6, 2007 landslide, the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau warned of a possible recurrence.

"It was an unfortunate incident," Uy said as he promised food and medical assistance for the survivors. "They should be relocated," he said, without elaborating where the relocation site should be.

Masara is also the area where a big mining company, the Crew Minerals of the Apex Mining Corp. and the UK-based Crew Gold Corporation, operate.(inquirer.net)


Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=14946.0