COORDINATION. Officials from various government agencies sit down to coordinate ongoing landslide rescue operations in Itogon, Benguet on Tuesday. The coordination meeting was initiated by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy and Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael, who visited the site to see how the department could help. Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan also attended the meeting. (Photo by Liza T. Agoot)
ITOGON, Benguet -- All efforts are being exerted to locate and rescue 59 more missing persons in Barangay Ucab in this mining town, as government agencies continue to collaborate to settle possible issues that may arise in the process.
Presidential Political Adviser and Secretary Francis Tolentino told reporters here on Tuesday that the ground zero, where the rescue operation is ongoing, covers about 0.025 square kilometers.
He said rescuers have sectioned the area to determine where the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and volunteers would dig and look for bodies or survivors.
“What I did is to synchronize the command structure, as well as sectionalize the area of operations, since we are operating on 0.025 square kilometers. I left it at the discretion of General Imbang (503rd Brigade Commander) and General Rolando Nana (director of Police Regional Office in Cordillera) to sectorize the grid, where volunteers will work.”
“I’m still labeling it as rescue operations because I am not giving up hope that there are survivors there. (There were) incidents in Nepal, China, wherein in two weeks, survivor were found. This is a place where there is water, and water can help you survive,” Tolentino said.
"The instruction of the President is particularly to continue the rescue operations, and in the other areas to also restore the electricity," he added. “There is no timeline for the operations, the ground commanders will have to exercise their sound judgement as to when they will seize operations.”
More forensic experts coming
In an emergency coordination meeting of various government agencies, it was agreed that the incident command center be moved to the operations center in Pacalso Memorial High School, where the municipal evacuation center is also located.
The meeting was initiated by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy and Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael Banaag, who visited the site to see how the department can help.
The move is to address the uncontrolled movement of numerous people, as well as to properly manage the dead, and to allow heavy equipment of the Department of Public Works and Highways to move in and clear the remaining landslides.
This is also to avoid possible health problems from arising, due to the presence of cadavers being processed while people sit and wait for updates.
During the meeting, forensic doctor Sheilah Magpalo said the National Bureau of Investigation in the region (NBI-Cordillera) is taking on the task of processing the cadavers from the PNP Crime Laboratory.
“There will be additional two teams arriving tomorrow to help process the dead, especially in taking samples for DNA tests,” she said.
Magpalo added the decomposition of the bodies would hasten as the days pass by, making it more difficult to identify the bodies.
The group also agreed to set up an area for the processing of the cadavers, away from residential areas and the public.
14 bodies recovered, 59 still missing
As of 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, a total of 14 cadavers have been retrieved from the landslide area, while 59 are still believed to be missing.
Supt. Mario Mayames, assistance force commander on site, said the number of missing persons is based on the information provided by families, who report to the municipal operations center.
He said that in the morning of Aug. 16, the number of missing persons were only 28, which has increased as families started to report their missing relatives.
Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan is hoping the rescue and retrieval operations will not take long.
Hundreds of government personnel and volunteers, together with miners and family members of the victims, are continuously digging at the area to locate bodies and search for survivors.
NDRRMC takes command
Department of Interior and Local Government Cordillera (DILG) regional director Marlo Iringan said the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) will take over the management of the search, rescue, and retrieval operation in Ucab.
However, he said the municipal and regional DRRM councils will continue to help out.
Regular media briefing
During meeting, the PCOO officials and the local government of Itogon agreed to hold a daily press briefing to inform the public about the efforts being done to search, rescue, and retrieve the victims.
The media briefings would be regularly arranged and coordinated by the Philippine Information Agency in Cordillera (PIA-CAR).
The PCOO raised issues on unorganized media interviews with anybody, including the rescue operatives, which disrupted ongoing operations. (PNA)
