Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
A new landslide struck Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 13, forcing the temporary stoppage of search, rescue and retrieval operations.
The landslide occurred around 2 p.m. and responders scampered to a safer ground, according to Brig. Gen. Ronnie Babac, commander of the 1001st Infantry Brigade.
“There was a small landslide so Apex [Mining Company] called for the suspension of the retrieval operation because of the possibility of a bigger landslide. That’s why all the operations now are totally stopped,” Babac said.
As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the Incident Command Post (ICP) in Maco said that the total number of fatalities from the Feb. 6 landslide increased to 71 while there remains 51 missing. Thirty-two individuals were also injured in the incident.
The operation has also shifted to retrieval now as hopes of finding more survivors got slimmer, according to Babac. It has been seven days since the major landslide happened.
“In search and rescue, there is a very high possibility that there are more survivors so the conduct of the search is more careful. If you’ve seen how our backhoe operators handle the machine, they treat it like the hand of a cat. There were rescuers observing the backhoe and using hand signals whenever they see body parts,” Babac explained.
“Meanwhile, in search and retrieval, the chances of having survivors is already low,” he added.
Aside from the bodies, the rescuers also found nine dismembered body parts.
“That’s how forceful the landslide was. you could just imagine, there was a Fortuner that was crumpled like a piece of paper. It’s as if the car was placed on a person’s hand and crumpled. How much more for a person?” Babac said.
‘All hands on deck’
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said more troops were deployed on ground zero to help in the search, rescue and retrieval operations following the devastating landslide.
More than 180 military personnel including search dogs have been deployed in Barangay Masara while a total of 10 military trucks and a communication van were utilized to hasten the operations.
Two light urban search and rescue (USAR) teams from the 525th Engineer Combat Battalion, 51st Engineer Brigade stepped up efforts to find survivors.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) has transported 80,000 pounds of relief goods to Davao de Oro to address the needs of the landslide victims.
The Philippine Navy (PN) also committed naval assets and personnel from the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao to bring family food packs in Davao de Oro.
“We are all hands on deck. Tulong-tulong tayo hindi lang ang AFP (Let’s all help each other, not only the AFP),” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said. — Martin Sadongdong
*****
Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
