Typhoon Pepeng lashes at NL as 'Ondoy' death toll rises to 3 in Cordillera

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — Super Typhoon Pepeng lashed out at Northern Luzon yesterday even as the Cordillera Regional Disaster Coordinating Council here disclosed three persons were killed and three others were seriously injured when Tropical Storm “Ondoy” vented its fury last week.

The number of Onyong’s fatalities increased after rescuers recovered the body of an earlier reported missing individual in Kabayan, Benguet whose house was buried by landslide.

Chief Supt. Orlando Pestano, director of the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera and CRDCC chairman, identified the fatalities as Ronnie Bahalay, 21, a fisherman from Poblacion, Kabugao, Apayao; Winnie Lynn Tello, 3, a resident of Catlubong, Buguias, Benguet and Pinet Cabiag, 60, married and a resident of Kabayan, Benguet.

On the other hand, the injured typhoon victims were identified as Tito Sinduka, 50, Marcelo Sinduka, 12, and Godaliva Sinduka, 7, all residents of Sitio Pugo, Ballay, Kabayan, Benguet.

According to a report from the CRDCC, the region suffered m as a result of “Ondoy,” a total of P41 million worth of damages to its various infrastructures located region-wide, while the Banaue-Hungduan road in Ifugao province remains closed to vehicular traffic because of a huge road cut and landslide along the area.

At the same time, the damage incurred by the region’s agriculture and fisheries sector was pegged at P30 million but the same could further increase in the coming days after the final report from the different provinces will have been collated and finalized by the CRDCC.

Benguet is still under a state of calamity after it was heavily devastated by typhoon “Kiko” but it also received a beating, especially in its lucrative vegetable industry when the moderately strong winds and rains of “Ondoy” hit the region.

Pestano disclosed that Bahalay was carried away by the rushing waters of the Benggan River in Poblacion, Kabugao, Apayao while he was reportedly placing his fish net over a portion of the river late Saturday afternoon Sept. 26.

On the other hand, the young Tello died after their house was buried by a landslide while they were having supper with her family members.

Rescuers recently recovered the body of Cabiag underneath the debris which buried their house in Ballay, Kabayan while his three other family members were earlier rescued alive. – Dexter A. See