25 dead, 15 still missing in Cordi after ‘Rosita’

17 confirmed dead in Natonin 

BAGUIO CITY -- A total of 25 persons have been confirmed dead, three of them still unidentified, while 15 others are still missing in the aftermath of Typhoon Rosita in the Cordillera region.

The Cordillera Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council reported on Tuesday most of the fatalities were recorded in Natonin town in Mountain Province, where a building of the Department of Public Works and Highways being constructed crumbled in a huge landslide from a mountain across the road in the afternoon of Oct. 30.

Ruben Carandang, regional director of the CDRRMC and the Office of Civil Defense Cordillera, said as of 7 a.m. on Nov. 6, a total of 17 persons were confirmed dead in Natonin, three of them unidentified.

Seven deaths were recorded in four towns of Ifugao, while one was recorded in Lubuagan town in Kalinga province.

Confirmed dead from the Natonin landslide were identified as Joel Arevalo, Gregorio Castro, Juanita Longan, Virginia Malucay, Coyugan Catet, John Tenmacheg, Jerry Epan, Raymundo Ngilin, Benito Longan, JunJun Laron, Elbert "Berto" Cano, Reynato "Pablo" Ayom, Gary Hecyawan, and Rogelio Alubong.

Meanwhile, 14 of the reported 15 missing persons were at the Natonin landslide area. One was from Lacub town in Abra province.

Those recovered in Ifugao province were identified as Baltazar Pinnay, Rexibel Pinnay, Rhezel Pinnay, Rydnell Pinnay, Kimber Padching, Eugene Nah-og Allangi, and Brawner Maradang.

Recorded dead in Kalinga due to the typhoon was Eurich Jane Galo in Luguagan town.

Search shifts to rivers

The search and rescue operatives have expanded their search to the rivers below the landslide site in Sitio Ha’rang, Barangay Banawel in Natonin, to find the 14 missing persons, who were believed to have supposedly sought shelter from the typhoon at the DPWH building that would be swept away in rainwater and mud.

 SAR operations are now a few kilometers away from the landslide site, including the river at Sitio Tuboy and in Barangay Bananao in neighboring Paracelis town, where the water from the landslide site, now called "ground zero," drains.

The SAR teams are composed of personnel from various government and non-government rescue teams and volunteers from non-government organizations and the communities.

DSWD assistance

Janet Armas, regional director of the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development in Cordillera, said on Tuesday the agency is now conducting stress debriefing for survivors and relatives of the casualties.

According to the CDRRMC report as of Nov. 6, there were 120 affected families and 427 displaced persons in Cordillera, who are now staying either in the nine evacuation centers in Benguet and Mountain Province or with their relatives.

The DSWD-CAR said relief items are being delivered by land, air, and by boat, as there are still isolated areas in the region.

Hygiene kits, family kits, sleeping kits, and kitchen kits are being brought to the affected families.

Armas said the DSWD has completed the delivery of supplies in the flooded villages of Lubo and Dacalan in Tanudan town in Kalinga, as well as in the flooded villages in Paracelis town in Mountain Province.

Some rice was also air-lifted to the isolated areas in Natonin, to augment whatever stock the people had saved from their previous harvests.

Armas said Mountain Province Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan had assured the provision of food for the over 500 rescuers.

The DSWD-CAR posted on facebook that the agency had so far 31,060 family food packs and other items, worth a sum of P46.12 million, being delivered to the affected families.

A standby fund of P4.4 million remains on hand for disaster response. 

As of press time, 11 more persons, including five members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographic Unit (CAFGU), remained missing in the Natonin landslide.

Capt. Jefferson Somera, 5th Army Division spokesman, said examination conducted on three bodies brought to Aguinaldo, Ifugao  showed they were not the remains of militiamen Leobel Orchilion, Linang Pallichang and Jonathan Ngilin.

The bodies were returned to the funeral parlor by their supposed relatives.

Somera said five CAFGU men of the 77th Infantry Battalion (IB) went on leave to moonlight as construction workers.

Lt. Col. Rembert Baylosis, 77th IB commander, had earlier said that the family members of the CAFGU men buried in the landslide would receive P200,000 in cash assistance.

Five more bodies were recovered from the landslide site on Nov. 4. Only two of the five found that day have been identified, Natonin Mayor Mateo Chiyawan said.

The Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Office identified the remains of Joel Arevalo, Gregorio Castro, Juanita Longan, Virginia Catet, Coyugan Catet, John Tenmacheg, Jerry Epan, Reymundo Ngilin, Benito Longan, Junjun Laron, Elberto Betco and Reynato Ayom.

Another body was recovered from ground zero in Barangay Banawel Monday night, bringing the total number of fatalities to 18.

Earlier retrieved dead from the slide were Benito Longan, 78; Junjun Laron RAF employee and native of Agoo, La Union; Joel Arevalo, 39 from Bicol region; Gregorio Castro from Baguio City and three other unidentified individuals.

Mike Saleo-an, of barangay Banawel and one of those who volunteered to join the retrieval operations was reportedly carried away by strong current while crossing a creek on his way home to Sitio Pomangwao.

His body was fished downstream by residents who responded to the alarm.

Rescued were Juventino Lammawen, Jupiter Pacyod, Fritzgerald Lumpanga and Junjun Gallingoy. All of them suffered minor injuries.

As this developed, Chiwayan questioned a risk assessment report of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau released on Oct. 25, which showed that “no area in Natonin is declared safe.”

“Saan kami magbi-build ng bahay namin. Baguio City was also declared a high-risk area in terms of landslides... but MGB personnel have big houses there,” he said.

The rescue and retrieval operation for the 17 still missing in a landslide here continues, with a large number of operatives concentrating their effort on the river.

Former Natonin Mayor Marie Rafael who is currently the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs of the Presidential Communications Operations Office had expressed sadness for the sad fate of her town.

Rafael walked over 10 kilometers in 4 hours, traversing the 31 remaining landsides that were blocking the roads from Paracelis town going to ground zero on November 1 to see for herself the condition on the ground and the situation of her townmates.

From Baguio, Paracelis is about 10 hours away by land and several more hours to reach Natonin.

Rafael expressed confidence that the DPWH will continue to operate 24- hours a day until the road is opened up to Poblacion.

DPWH Cordillera regional director Tiburcio Canlas had earlier relayed his personal assessment of the roads to Natonin saying that it might take a month to fully clear the road to Natonin of the debris.

The Cordillera has yet to recover from the devastation of typhoon “Ompong” that left over 100 people dead in Itogon and in other provinces when it was again battered by typhoon “Rosita” where an initial 22 have been recorded dead.

Seven deaths were recorded in Ifugao; 1 in Lubuagan, Kalinga; 2 in Barlig town and the 12 recovered bodies in Natonin, Mt. Province.

This number is expected to increase as the operation to find the missing bodies in Natonin continues.

A total of 7,507 families or 30,666 persons in 224 barangays were affected in the six provinces of the Cordillera.

As of early last week,  there were still 135 families or 466 individuals staying in 15 evacuation centers in Cagayan Valley, Eastern Visayas and CAR due to Rosita.

Nine are in CAR, where 111 families or 3,114 persons are currently taking refuge.

DSWD has so far provided P,693,964.25 worth of assistance to the affected families. – With a report from PNA