Bibo was already waiting for us near the town hall when we arrived. It was 9:30 a.m.

For an out-of-town coverage like this one, it is important to maintain one driver, especially so because this is not an easy drive to the site. It is important to entrust your safety to someone experienced. Habal-habal drivers also serve as your local guide as almost everyone in the village knows them, and vice versa.

Trust your driver and trust his motorcycle. Ordinary motorcycles could not easily make it to the gold-rush sites. Habal-babals are heavily modified motorcycles.

On that day, we headed to Sitio Panganason to descend from Sitio Haguimit again via the Nangkaan trail, so named because of the many jackfruit trees in the area.

After more than an hour’s ride over rough roads, we reached sitio Haguimit. As we descended, the trail looked better compared to our first day. It was not as slippery as on Thursday (January 5). We learned that the miners restored the trail so that it would easier for rescue volunteers to move back and forth.

It was almost 12 noon when we arrived. Most of the volunteers were having their lunch at the bunkhouse of Hexat Mining. No one was left digging. While waiting, we took few a shots. Then we descended again near the foot of the landslide site.

About five minutes later, the small-scale miners emerged from the shanties and resumed digging.

Looking for Cho-cho

I saw Bernabe again. He was still quiet but kept on digging using a shovel. He hasn’t found Cho-cho yet. I wanted to ask him Cho-cho’s real name, but I did not anymore. I wanted to give him some space.

This time, he was joined by his sister and two brothers-in-law. A TV reporter had just finished interviewing his sister. I learned from his sister that Bernabe only had one meal since the landslide happened. So that was one meal in three days.

On barefoot, Bernabe looked pale but he was still strong. He dug into the earth using the shovel with so much force as if he could break his tool. If I could just read his mind, I think he was hoping that every rock he turned, he could find his daughter.

I wanted to talk to him again but his actions showed his frustration. So I opted not to interview him anymore. I took a few shots and observed him and his fellow miners digging through the mud and rubble.

He unearthed a piece of cloth, and stared at it for few seconds. Maybe he was wondering if that was from his destroyed house. Then he threw it away and started plowing again. He struck the earth and the mud so hard, his shovel hitting some rocks.

His fellow miners were pouring water beside a big rock about a meter wide to soften the earth around it and thus easier to push. Bernabe’s colleagues were shouting at him to move out of the way because the rock was about to roll towards him.

“Abe, padaplin! Mabali ng imong tuhod kung maipit ka anang bato!” one of the miners yelled.

But Bernabe ignored him, continuing to dig through the mud beside the rock. As the boulder started to roll, he jumped to the top of the rock, then pushed it downwards with his feet and immediately had a peek behind the rock. He must be hoping to find the body of his daughter.

But there was none. Frustration was written all over his face.

We could smell the stench of death around. Flies were everywhere.

Then one miner started digging where the flies were, a few meters away from Bernabe. The miner called up his colleagues to dig on that spot because he could smell something. After a foot deep of digging, one of them hit something soft. It smelled so bad. Some rushed to the spot to see what it was.

Bernabe stood and looked towards them. As it turned out, it was just a slice of pork. Then I noticed Bernabe walking away. Just about two meters away, he sat on a pile of lumber gathered from destroyed houses.

I moved downwards, deeper into the foot of the landslide where most of the miners were digging because it was there where they retrieved most of the bodies.

When I looked up, I saw Bernabe still sitting on the pile of lumber, his head down resting on his arms crossed over his knees. He was shaking his head slowly, apparently crying. I looked for Toto because I knew he had his telephoto lens with him. I only had a standard zoom lens mounted on my camera, I could thus not get a much better shot since Bernabe was out of my range.

Then I saw Toto taking pictures of him. I signaled Toto to keep on shooting. It was a dramatic picture that would show his frustration while his daughter has yet to be found.

Soldiers, police no more

We noticed that it’s already 2 p.m. and the other rescue volunteers – like those from Apex Mines, military and police – were no longer around. I thought they would resume digging after having their lunch.

No more journalists too, except for one foreign TV crew.

Anyway, the miners continued digging.

On alert

Suddenly, everyone scampered for safety because the police in the upper part of the hill ordered them to stop digging because the debris was moving.

I was interviewing the leader of the miners when everyone ran. He radioed his men who were monitoring the movement of the fissure near the origin of the landslide.

He said everything was okay and that there was no need to panic. He ordered his colleagues to continue digging. I was confident, I trust him more than the policemen because he has been living and working there for 30 years.

The miners said it was because of a leaking water hose that caused the mud to fall off a cliff. I already noticed when we arrived.

I looked for Toto, I saw him in the higher portion of the hill. I signaled him a thumbs up, meaning “I’m okay here.”

The miners continued digging. A police officer arrived with his small megaphone, saying something that we could not hear amid the noise from the shovels and the crumbling .

The miners ignored the police and continued digging. The police officer left. I saw Toto looking at the digging. At 2:45 p.m., I signaled him that we would leave by 3 p.m.

The smell was getting worse. Then they found a body part. They continued digging until they found a leg. The miners poured more water until a hand surfaced.

Looking for Ange

One miner said: “I hope that’s Ange now.” Someone asked what Ange was wearing the last time they saw him on Wednesday evening. One of the miners said: “ A red and black sweat shirt.”

The volunteers found a piece of cloth of red and black. Somebody whispered again, saying: “Unta si Ange na gyud na.”

Ange’s name was like “talk of the town” in the gold-rush site.

After 15 minutes, they have fully retrieved the body and transferred it to the body bag. But they were not sure if it was Ange or not. They could hardly recognize the deformed face.

Toto was already around taking pictures of the retrieval. I was moving away once in a while because of the stench.

It was not the first time that I saw and took pictures of a dead body. But I was looking for an angle that would not show the dead man’s face nor all of his body. If you want to shoot a dead body, shoot it with dignity.

Almost everyone had his nose covered because of the stench, but a few could withstand it.

After the body was taken to the “temporary morgue,” we decided to head back to the town proper.

While ascending, I looked back to the shanties standing on the edge of the mountain, thinking what awaits them since the village has been identified as a high-risk area.

Back in sitio Haguimit, we passed by a store for a quick snack. Toto, Bibo and myself were already starving. We ordered three cups of instant noodles.

Then we heard a motorcycle roaring through the narrow road. One of the villagers shouted: “Abe, kita na bata mo?” Then a male voice answered: “Wala pa!”

I did not immediately recognize that it was Bernabe, who was riding on a motorcycle heading to sitio Panganason. I was facing the store when they passed by. But I saw his back, he was still wearing the dark blue shirt and short pants, the same set of clothes since Day One of the rescue operations.

It was the loudest voice I heard from him since I saw him digging through the rubble. Those who asked him were not strangers, they were his fellow miners.

At the store, I asked Rosebeth Hilamon, the owner, if they were not afraid of the landslide. She replied: “Wala man, naanad naman mi ana dire.”

Hilamon, who has been living in sitio Haguimit for 14 years, said they used to own a ball mill plant in Sitio Diat 2, but it was hit by the landslide.

Then I asked her who Ange was. Ange was a gold buyer in Sitio Diat 2 who used to own a store and a billiard table, where miners while away the time, drinking beer and playing billiards.

I checked the Philippine National Red Cross’ the list of missing persons. There I learned that Ange’s real name is Angelito Ubas; Cho-cho is Chona.

After talking to several miners, they said landslides have become a part of their lives. Poverty has pushed them to work in the mines, digging not just for the gold, but their own graves as well.

As of this writing, 40 bodies have been retrieved from the site while 41 are still missing.

The retrieval operations have ceased. Ange and Chona would remain on the missing list.

Like in the previous landslides, many have remained missing. It was impossible for the volunteers to retrieve the bodies due to the deep mud and the rubble.

The landslide sites have become a poor man’s grave. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

Published: MindaNews 

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/14 January) — On our second day of coverage of the landslide in Pantukan, Compostela Valley, we decided to take the Tibagon route because it was still 9:30a.m. Besides, the weather looked fine that Friday, January 6, 2012.

The chopper was on standby in case there would be survivors in the landslide. Or it could be used to transport the cadavers if the weather permitted. But I really had doubts because based on our experience last year in Sitio Panganason, the nearest landing zone was at least three kilometers away.

We asked around if the chopper would really insert additional rescue volunteers or additional soldiers to secure the area, but no one could answer us. Everyone was busy. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo was coming, and everyone was busy preparing reports or presentations. So we decided to take Tibagon Route so that we don’t have to hike back and forth from the site to Sitio Haguimit. Besides, muscle pain in our legs would slow us down.

Bibo arrived and once again we had our rain boots, water, biscuits, my headlamp (in case we went down very late in the afternoon and darkness fell while we’re still on the road).

Around a kilometer away from the highway, we passed by an excavator moving towards our direction too.  I signaled to the driver if he’s going to the landslide site. He just gave me a nod. The heavy equipment was moving as slow as a snail.

After an hour on the road, we had to drive along the river. But that was just for about 50 meters, and then we ascended back to the road. Bibo said that during heavy rains, it is impossible for motorcycles to cross because of the strong current when water level rises.

The view of dense forest was quite rejuvenating. About 30 minutes to our destination, we could see the long strip from a distance; it’s the landslide site, which we reached after at least two hours of roller-coaster ride. This time, over a hundred volunteers – small-scale miners, soldiers, police and workers of Apex Mining – were digging, hoping to find survivors.

At the “temporary morgue,” five more bodies had piled up as we arrived.

Several photographers and TV crew were already around busy interviewing people – families of the victims, rescue workers, miners, police and the military.

Ruby decided to stay in the upper portion of the landslide site as some rescue workers were also digging near the spot where bunkhouses used to stand. I went down again near the foot of the landslide. From the top of the hill, the rescue volunteers looked like busy ants marching through the mud and rocks. As usual, they were still using water to soften the mud.

Tolentino children

Then one of the miners told me that one of their colleagues lost all her daughters in the landslide. Three have already been retrieved while the other one was still missing.

He pointed to a lanky guy, wearing short pants and on barefoot, who joined the rescue volunteers from Apex Mines in searching for her missing daughter, 8-year old Cho-cho. He is Bernabe Tolentino, whose three other daughters were retrieved hours after the landslide. Two TV crews from Davao were talking to him. A villager told me that Bernabe was still in shock and had not eaten his meals since the landslide happened.

I checked my watch, it’s almost 12 noon.

After the TV crews were done interviewing him, I wanted to interview him too. But I had a dilemma because I knew he was grieving and obviously still in a state of shock. I observed that when he was being interviewed, he was not looking straight at the camera. He was not simply shy, I believed he was hesitant. I assumed that what he had in mind was to search for his daughter, instead of talking to strangers.

I waited for a few minutes before taking some photos while he and the volunteers were digging. Then I moved up near the spot where he was digging. I waited for a few minutes again until he would take a rest before I would talk to him.

When a miner from Apex talked to him and Bernabe stood still, I took the opportunity to ask my first question. I think he was asked by the miner if he had eaten his meals up in the bunk house of Hexat Mining.

He just replied: “Sige lang, okay ra ko.”

While I was asking him, he was really hesitant. After asking a few questions and getting the names of his children, I moved back since he was about to start digging again.

As the small-scale miners were digging, we could hear some of them looking for a certain “Ange.” I did not ask who is he and why he seems to be popular in the village.

I returned to the upper portion of the hill and rejoined Ruby and the rest of the journalists.

The backhoe

Around 2p.m., we left the site and headed back to Tibagon. An hour later, we met the backhoe on our way down. We stopped and asked the driver if they were really going to the landslide site to help the rescue operations. He was accompanied by two assistants.

In vernacular, I asked him: ”Are you going to landslide site?” The driver said yes and asked: “Are we still far? How many hours to go? How long did you travel?”

Bibo told him that they hadn’t reached midway yet. “It takes at least two hours to drive to the landslide site,” he said with a chuckle.

The backhoe driver laughed and just shook his head. Remember, we passed them 9a.m. around a kilometer away from the highway, running as slow as a snail. Later we learned that the backhoe arrived on Sunday. So they spent three days on the road.

A military official quipped: “Tamang-tama pagdating ng backhoe, retrieval operations na.” (Keith Bacongco / Mindanews)

Source: MindaNews

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 January) – Ruby and I were supposed to finish editing the photos we took on the aftermath of Tropical Storm Sendong Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan cities when I heard on radio that another tragedy occurred in Pantukan, Compostela Valley, a gold rush site.  I haven’t unloaded some of the things in my backpack after the trip to the disaster-stricken cities, nor drained the water in my bladder pack. The headlamp and some camera accessories were still inside the bag too.

The first report said six persons were already confirmed dead while some were reported missing. A few minutes later, the military reported that 16 bodies had been pulled out from the mud and rubble.

I asked Carol if we could go with Gigi. She said, go ahead.

Although I had no idea where exactly the landslide site is, I knew it would be a long uphill ride because I heard about the gold rush sites, sitios Diat 1 and Diat 2, last year when we covered the landslide in Sitio Panganason in neighboring barangay Kingking. Sitios Diat 1 and 2 are in Napnapan.

While preparing to leave, I scanned my phone directory if I still had the number of a certain Alex, an employee at the office of the mayor.  Luckily, I still have it. So I called him to ask how far the landslide site is. He told me that it’s just on the other side of Sitio Panganason. He said we could go there either via Barangay Tibagon which would take at least two hours by motorcycle, or via Sitio Panganason, which would take more than an hour but we have to walk for about 30 minutes.

I sent a text message to Maj. Jake Obligado, commander of the 10th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion, asking him if we could ride the chopper together with the rescue workers even if I knew it would be hard to find a landing zone given the site’s rugged terrain. He didn’t reply. But I understand he has other priority concerns, particularly coordinating the rescue efforts with their counterparts on the ground.

Also, in times of disaster, while we know that journalists would compete who can file the first report, we must understand that choppers are meant to transport the survivors from the site to the town proper for medical treatment.

On our way to Pantukan with Toto Lozano, we could see the clouds already kissing the Diwata Mountain Range. It presaged bad weather. So we assumed that it would really be difficult for the chopper to find a landing zone.  As we entered the town proper, we saw the aircraft hovering over the town proper on its way to Kingking Elementary School, the landing zone during the rescue operation last year.

We went straight to the incident command post in front of the Pantukan town hall. Journalists, both from print and broadcast, were already there waiting for the briefing. After the briefing, we learned that there was no landing zone and the retrieved bodies had to be brought down to the town proper on a dump truck. Last year, the retrieved bodies were transported using motorcycles.

Experienced drivers

Ruby and I decided to hire a motorcycle, locally known as habal-habal. We knew that it would be a rough ride; we had to get the best driver.

Toto took charge of covering the survivors at the hospitals and the families of the victims. He would wait, too, for a chance to ride the chopper for an aerial survey if the weather permitted.

Again, I called up Alex and asked him if he could help us find the best driver available for our own safety even if hundreds of motorcycles are plying the route. It does not mean that we don’t trust the local villagers; it’s all about getting safe to our destination without any scratches and broken bones.

Alex sent Bibo, a 34-year old driver who has been plying the route for 14 years. I asked Bibo which is the shortest route. He said the route via Barangay Tibagon is more convenient because we don’t have to hike to the landslide site. But since it’s already 1p.m. and the weather was getting bad, we were forced to take the route via Sitio Panganason and hike. But he told us it’s going to be short, like 30 minutes. We dropped the Tibagon route because it might rain and the rivers will be flooded, and we couldn’t make it back.

We had our rain boots on and had raincoats inside our bags. Almost halfway to Sitio Panganason, a heavy rain poured. We had to put our raincoats on, and of course, wrap the cameras with plastic. After an hour and 15 minutes, we were already in Panganason, 15 minutes ahead of the usual travel time. From there, we had to pass by shanties and narrow alleys in going to Sitio Haguimit, where we would descend to Sitio Diat 2, at the foot of the landslide site. Only motorcycles can pass the road to Haguimit.

It was raining pretty hard when we arrived in Haguimit. The villagers told us that we should not descend from Diat Uno, where the landslide originated because it was too dangerous. Besides, we had to hike for 20 minutes then descend through the boulders and mud. We did not take the risk but instead descended through the route known as Nangkaan, named after the jackfruit trees that grew near the trail made more slippery by the rain. We had to use both of our hands to hold on to twigs, roots and rocks.

On our way down, we could still hear the machines used in ball mill plants. Everything seemed normal, as if nothing happened down in Diat Dos.

After 10 minutes of steep descent, we’re still halfway to our destination. Bibo pointed to us the location of the landslide, which we couldn’t see from our position. We could only see the villagers standing on a cliff, which turned out later to be the edge of the hill that collapsed. Ten minutes more and we finally arrived in Diat Dos, happy to survive the 200-meter descent.

The trail ended on the dirt road that leads to the national highway in Barangay Tibagon. Just across the end of the trail was an unfinished shanty. Built using lumbers and galvanized iron sheets, it served as a “temporary morgue,” and stood right outside the Hexat Mining Corporation compound.

The stench of four corpses in body bags greeted us. We took a few shots of the body bags. Five minutes later, rescue workers carrying another body bag walked towards the gate of the compound.

After taking some more shots, we walked towards the people we saw on our way down.

To my right, I was stunned by the massive mud and debris that swathed the gold rush site. A house was leaning on its side, the posts were wrecked but the roof was still intact. We were told that the family who owns the house was able to survive, though slightly hurt.

As I looked down, I could see debris and felled trees that were draped with mud. Several people were also digging through the dirt and rubble.

While we were warned to be cautious because there was still movement of the soil in the upper portion of the mountain, we could still see some people coming down through the path of the landslide.

Ruby and I checked on around 10 persons digging through the mud using water and hand tools. The ground was still soft. I was thinking if it was really safe to stand beside those who were digging. After taking a few shots, I asked Ruby to descend again.

At least 30 meters below, at least 20 persons were also digging. They said they recovered the five bodies near the bottom of the landslide.

All the rescue volunteers turned out to be workers of the mining company and small-scale miners in the area.

Earlier that day, we heard on the radio reports that the military and police dispatched one platoon each to assist in the rescue operations. But we were surprised that only the local villagers were actually doing the rescue efforts.

Yes, we saw the police and Army. They were actually around, probably securing the site.

Gunshots warning

While we were taking pictures at the bottom of the landslide, gunshots rang at 3:50pm from the top of the mountain. Then the people on the higher portion of the mountain shouted to us to climb back to the safer grounds.

It took us about 10 minutes to descend from the compound, but in just a few seconds, we were able to ascend halfway. All of those in the path of the landslide also rushed to the safer grounds. No one was left.

Ten minutes after the first gunshots, at least three more rang from the top of the mountain. Everyone left the path of the landslide. This time, the rescue volunteers decided to call off the rescue efforts because it might rain again.

I learned from the villagers that they were actually warned hours before the landslide.

At around 12 midnight, after interviewing some villagers and miners, I saw three women sitting outside a shanty. One was still crying, while the two others looked very worried. I was hesitant to interview them because I understood they needed some space. One guy told me that the one who was still crying is the wife of one of the missing miners. The two others are her sisters, whose husbands were also miners but were able to survive.

We headed back to Haguimit, another grueling 200-meter ascent. Back home, it was just sad to imagine how the lives of these poor people would end. They had no choice; they had to risk their lives to feed their families. For most of them, dying and surviving the landslides have become a part of their lives in the rugged mountain range of Mt. Diwara. (Keith Bacongco/Mindanews)

Source: MindaNews

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 January) – Convinced that chances of survival six days after the tragedy are slim, the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) of Pantukan in Compostela Valley has shifted work from rescue to retrieval operations in the landslide site that occurred at Sitio Diat 1 in Barangay Napnapan that left 36 persons killed and 36 others missing.

The number of missing people dropped from 42 on Monday to 36 today as four of those in the list were later traced to be alive who had gone home before the incident happened, while two other casualties were already identified by their relatives.

Dr. Arnulfo Lantaya, MDRRMC spokesperson, told MindaNews over the phone that the decision to move on to retrieval operations was made after a meeting of the local disaster council today, six days after the tragedy.

He said the number of retrieval volunteers working in the site has also reduced to around 100. On the first three days of the rescue operations, the rescue workers numbered to at least 200.

He said an excavator arrived on Sunday but it cannot be used in the retrieval operations because the ravine is quite deep, thus difficult for the operator to maneuver it going down to the bottom of the landslide site.

During the rescue operations, volunteers retrieved most of the bodies at the bottom of the landslide area, at least 30 meters below from the compound of Hexat Mining Corporation. The path of the landslide almost buried the compound of the mining company in mud.

“The number of days of the retrieval operations will depend on how long the volunteers can withstand the stench given that it has been almost a week since the tragedy happened,” Lantaya said.

He added that at present, volunteers are manually digging using shovels, aided with water to soften the soil.

Ely Sanchez, chair of the Diat Small-Scale Miners Cooperative, earlier told MindaNews that they have enough water supply but they lack water hoses.

Some volunteers are filling barrels with water and pour them into the mud. But there were times when they would ran out of water and would have to wait 15 minutes for the pump to fill the water reservoir before they could resume digging.

Meanwhile, Lantaya said most of the miners in sitios Diat 1 and Diat 2 have already left their shanties. But he could not yet give the exact number pending the verification on Wednesday.

But he added that the local government will send demolition teams to destroy the shanties left by the miners, following the “no habitation” policy ordered by Mayor Celso Sarenas. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

PANTUKAN, Compostela Valley (MindaNews/9 January) – Everything seems to be normal in the gold rush communities near the landslide site in Sitio Diat 1 in Barangay Napnapan as ball mill plants continue to operate and miners continue to haul ores out of the tunnel.

Interviewed just 200 meters away from Ground Zero, Jun Alcantara, owner of a small-scale mine processing plant, said they are already used to landslides, adding that it’s “normal” for them.

Alcantara, who has been operating the milling plant since 2000, said small-scale miners like him had no other choice but to continue operation even as the local government is mulling a stoppage order to all mining operations in the identified high-risk areas, which includes the gold rush sites in Barangay Napnapan.

As of 2 p.m. Monday, 36 bodies have been retrieved while 42 others remain missing following a landslide that hit the gold rush site in Sitio Diat 1 on early morning of Thursday.

“Landslides are normal here for us. Anywhere you go here is not really safe, we are aware of that. But we have no other means of livelihood,” said Alcantara, who started working in the mines in Barangay Napnapan in 1984 before starting his own business four years later.

He admitted to have received reports that the local government is planning to stop all operations in the gold rush sites as well as the recommendation of Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo to demolish all houses in the “no habitation” zones.

Alcantara said they are willing to relocate their houses and ball mill plants should the government insist.

“I have talked to my fellow miners here. We will cooperate with the government because we know that’s for our own safety also. But the government must also understand that it’s not easy to relocate. So we are willing to sit down and talk about it,” he said.

Evacuation order

Dr. Arnulfo Lantaya, local disaster council spokesperson, said the local government already informed last Sunday the miners and residents living in sitios Diat 1 and Diat 2 to evacuate because these areas have already been identified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) as far back in 2008 as among the high-risk areas.

Lantaya said over the phone that the evacuation order will expire this (Monday) evening. By Tuesday, he said, authorities will inspect the areas if the residents have complied.

Then on Wednesday, the local government will send demolition teams to forcibly evict and demolish the shanties, Lantaya added.

He could not yet say how many miners will be affected by the evacuation order.

Last year, miners in Sitio Panganason voluntarily demolished their shanties following the order of the local government three days after the landslide, which left 14 persons killed and nine others still missing.

Miners are aware

Ely Sanchez, chair of the Diat Small-Scale Miners Cooperative, told MindaNews that his fellow miners were already aware that the Diat sitios have been identified as high-risk areas.

He said most of his colleagues have already moved to safer grounds right after the landslide at Sitio Panganason.

“Those who refused to leave have actually signed a waiver that if anything happens, our organization should not be blamed for negligence to our members,” he said last Saturday.

Prior to the landslide, Sanchez added that he had actually deployed watchmen on top of the mountain where the landslide originated.

He said they have already noticed the fissures since last year and they have already informed the residents to leave the area.

“Those four persons from Diat Uno, who are still missing, were newcomers to this place. I have already told them not build their shanties directly below the fissures but they were stubborn,” lamented Sanchez.

He recalled that hours before the landslide, they already noticed slight rumblings and rocks falling from the mountain.

By 2.a.m., Sanchez said, some of their fellow miners fired their guns to alert the residents near the fissure. “But these four persons did not immediately evacuate. They were last seen packing their belongings. Unfortunately, they did not make it to safer grounds,” Sanchez recounted.

He added that most of the casualties were actually workers of the Hexat Mining Corporation. Most of the company’s bunkhouses were directly hit by the landslide.

Hexat mining’s compound sits directly below Sitio Diat 1, where the landslide started and slid towards Diat 2, burying at least 50 houses.

Small-scale miners monitor cracks

As hundreds of volunteers are digging though the mud and debris, Sanchez said some of his colleagues are monitoring the movement of the crack on top of the landslide site.

On Saturday, rescue volunteers and photographers scampered to higher grounds after the police sounded the alarm upon seeing mud and debris sliding towards the bottom of the landslide site, where the rescue operations are focused.

But it turned to be a false alarm, after Sanchez radioed his men on top of the mountain to check if there was movement on the fissure.

He estimates that landslide measures around 800 meters from bottom to the tip. But the local disaster council says it’s just 350 meters.

“This is more than double compared to the landslide site in Panganason, which was about 300 meters from top to bottom,” said Sanchez, who has been working in the gold rush site for 30 years. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

Source: MindaNews

A day earlier, the bodies of his three other daughters – Ivy, 14; Sheena Mae, 12; and Bea, 6 – were retrieved from the spot Tolentino was now digging.

Rescuers from the military, police, miners, search and rescue groups and local villagers have been deployed to the landslide. Search and rescue operations were suspended at 4 p.m. Thursday but resumed early Friday morning with at least a hundred volunteers.

The landslide struck at 3 a.m. on Thursday, klling at least 27 persons, including Tolentino’s three daughters. Cho-cho is not yet included in the list of 27 as the number represents only the bodies retrieved.

Tolentino, a widower who works for Hexat Mining, said he left for Sitio Boringot on January 4 to earn extra income since operations in Hexat would resume on January 10 yet.

The Tolentinos reside in the poblacion about two hours’ ride by motorcycle. But he brought his daughters to their bunkhouse here on December 27. He said they were supposed to return to the poblacion to celebrate New Year but stayed on because they had no money for motorcycle fare. It costs P300 per person to return downtown.

“Our house is located 20 meters away from the spot where my three daughters were retrieved by the villagers,” the 39-year old miner said.

Randy Cobrado, a miner since 2004, managed to rescue the six-year old Bea as soon as the  rocks and soil stopped falling.

“Katong bata, si Bea daw to, mao ako na nakarga pasaka pero namatay man daw bag-o pa kaabot sa Crossing Tibagon” (The girl Bea, I carried her up to where it’s safe but I was told she died before reaching Crossing Tibagon), Cobrado said.

Tibagon, one of the alternate routes to the  landslide site, is at least two hours by motorcycle from the poblacion.

Cobrado said the landslide missed his house by a few inches. But rocks damaged the roof.

The night before the landslide, he was in a drinking spree with his neighbors  until 11 p.m.

“Milakaw na ko atong orasa kay mejo daghan na sad nainom. Pero sila, nag inom pa to hantud magbuntag na. Naapil hinuon sila sa natabunan” (I left them at around that time because I drank much. But they continued drinking until morning. They were among those who were buried), Cobrado said.

Cobrado said he was awakened by rumblings, prompting him to jump out of his house and run to higher ground.

Tolentino is not alone in losing children to the landslide.

Antonio Dayami, 47, lost two of his three sons — Christopher, 17, and  Jayson,18. But 16-year old Raymart survived.

“Dugay na kami dire ga trabaho sa tunnel. Ako daan 10 years na ko dire ga mina-mina. Murag naanad na mi aning landslide dire” We have been here for a long time. I have been working in this small-scale mining operations for the last 10 years. We’re used to landslides here), he told MindaNews.

The last time he was with his sons was on Wednesday.  He said they went down to celebrate New Year then returned to the minesite on January 3.

At 3 a.m. on January 5, the landslide cut a swath of destruction 350 meters from the ridgeline, 50-meters wide.

Rescue volunteers are focusing their work at the bottom where most of the bodies were retrieved.

Records from the Incident Command Post of the Disaster Risk Reduction Managmeent Council (DRRMC)  set up near the town hall showed that of 27 retrieved bodies, 23 had been identified. Of the eight reported missing, three were found dead. Of the 16 rescued, nine were rushed to the Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum City for head injuries, only six have remained, one of them still in critical condition. (Keith Bacongco / MindaNews)

Source: MindaNews

As the world prepares for Christmas and New Year, the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Northern Mindanao, Philippines were wrecked and inundated by flashfloods caused by Tropical Storm Sendong (International Name: Washi) on the late evening of December 16, 2011 until the early morning of December 17.

Thousands were killed, many were left homeless, and countless dreams were dashed in a season of merrymaking.

Two weeks after the tragedy, people are slowly picking up the pieces and trying to live normal lives again.

The riverside village is now a vast wasteland. Piles of logs and debris from the houses that once stood there are scattered all over and in the distance, the indelible image of destruction of the old Mandulog Bridge,  two of its center spans lying in parallel direction down the river.

But two weeks after the devastating flashflood, residents are slowly picking up the pieces as they dig around spots where their houses once stood, looking for buried kitchen utensils and other belongings.

Some have built makeshift tents as temporary shelters, like Quiliano Aron , 57,  who prefers staying here with his family than in the crowded evacuation centers.

Quiliano, a school janitor who has been living here since 1976,  has also set up a temporary kitchen from materials salvaged from the debris.

“This is just our temporary shelter because the city government will no longer allow us to return here. We understand it. We have no problem relocating as long as it’s safe,” his wife, Josephine, explains, while doing their laundry.

They rarely receive relief aid compared to those in the evacuation centers but friends have been helping out.

“If we stay in the evacuation centers, we are worried that our six grandchildren will get sick. The concrete floor is too cold for them. At least here, we have built a makeshift bed,” Quiliano adds.

They have experienced floods before but only up to their knees. “That was normal for us since we are living on the riverbank. But last December 16 evening was the most devastating.”

The water rose too quickly, they were not able to save any of their belongings.

Saved

But Josephine and Quliano are grateful that all 10 members of the family made it to  higher grounds before the raging waters slammed into their house some 200 meters west of the destroyed Mandulog Bridge, leaving only the concrete floor.

The family’s three dogs were saved, although two of them went missing for a few days.

“One of our dogs named Kenneth, stood on top of a boulder in front our house and kept on barking. My husband tried to carry Kenneth but he would bite him so we  just left him there,” recalls Josephine.

Four days later, Kenneth returned to their village The other dog was found a day earlier cloaked  in mud, walking along Mandulog bridge.

“My grandson was very, very happy. He even hugged Kenneth upon seeing him near our destroyed house,” she recalled.

Nearby, another resident was seen carrying a tray filled with spoons and fork that she dug from where her house used to stand. She was going to the river to wash the salvaged items.

Quiliano believes that the hundreds of logs, carried by the rampaging waters from the mountains, flattened most of the concrete houses that used to stand on the riverbank.

Mud and debris

Some two kilometers from the junction of the national highway going to Upper Hinaplanon and Luinab, the flood left enormous mud and debris, on both sides of the main road.

Using shovels, they scoop the mud out of their houses and dump them outside using buckets.

Some vehicles are still buried in mud, others on the roadside remain covered with mud, the windshields broken, parts missing.

Scavengers are roaming the scenes of destruction with their trisikads loaded with salvaged items – a piece of  roof, appliances, scrap metal – anything that can be sold.

Moving further, the road is covered with thick mud and hip-high silt on both sides, making it passable only to one vehicle at a time.

An excavator and a loader were seen clearing the road of mud and debris.

Several houses were spared by the floods, particularly those located around 500 meters from the edge of the riverbank. But they are covered with mud, too. Houses made of light materials were totally destroyed.

Some grasses and plastic bags could be seen stuck on a roof 15 feet from the ground.

Cooking utensils

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that as of  6 a.m. of January 1, there are 15,937 families or 76,625 persons  affected by the floods in Iligan City.

Bayug Island and Hinaplanon were the worst hit barangays.

Although relief aid has been continuously pouring in for the victims, most of these are food, clothes, medicine and water.

Kulindao Maruhom, 54, says the food aid and used clothing are overwhelming but they cannot cook their food on time because they have to borrow cooking pots.

The mother of nine says sometimes three or four families take turns using one small pot. “We have to wait before we could cook,” she adds.

Jumalia Ulama, 38, a mother of four, also shares cooking pots with fellow displaced persons presently seeking shelter in a madrasah.

Cooking pots have been distributed in their evacuation center but these were not enough.

Water containers were also a problem until Oxfam Philippines through the  Humanitarian Response distributed 900 pairs of  water containers – one capable of storing 10 liters, the other 20 – three bottles of water purifiers and two malongs to each family on December 29.

Fifty-year old Rufaida Kawi , who owned an eatery that was also washed out by the floods,  says they could only store a gallon of water before the bigger ones arrived. Kawi and the rest rely on the water ration by the city government and other non-government organizations.

Kawi’s cooking utensils and other personal belongings were washed away along with the house and eatery.

About a kilometer away from the madrasah, around 20 families have set up makeshift shelters on the roadside.

One of the evacuees said they refused to stay at the evacuation centers because it is too crowded and far from the source of potable water.

On the roadside is a natural spring where they can fetch potable water, take a bath and wash their clothes.

Kawi is grateful for the assistance they are getting from various sectors. But she narrates that during the initial arrival of relief goods in their village, some used clothing were not appropriate for their culture.

“When I opened the plastic bag, there was a spaghetti dress and other sleeveless blouses. We cannot use that,” she adds.

Wearing short sleeves and mini-skirts is taboo for Maranaos. Traditionally, women are required to wear long sleeves and skirts down to their ankles.

Kawi added that she gave the spaghetti dress to a non-Muslim evacuee.

She said she was not offended when she received the used clothing because “hindi naman siguro nila alam na may marami rin Muslim dito sa Upper Hinaplanon” [they probably don’t know there are many Muslims here in Upper Hinaplanon]. (Keith Bacongco/MindaNews)

Source: MindaNews

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/28 Dec) – True or not, but some residents in the coastal barangay of Santiago here claim that almost every night, they are hearing voices crying for help coming from the pile of logs swept from the mountains during the flashflood dawn of December 17.

One of them is fisherfolk Jaime Jambre, in his 50s, who said that there are certain spots in the pile of logs where the voices come from. He has been hearing voices of children, as well as the elderly, crying for help three days after that fateful day.

“On the third day after the flood, I heard cries for help. The voices you hear, you can really feel those people calling for help are in great difficulty,” he said in the vernacular as he coils his nylon string used in catching fish, himself standing on top of the logs, maybe one of which destroyed his house.

A decaying 20-foot log with a diameter of about three feet floating in the rampaging flood waters swept his house, made only of some light wood, plywood and bamboo. Lucky for them, his family was already leaving their house when the log hit it.

“With the log’s size, my house vanished in an instant. More logs came shortly after that not even a post got left behind,” he said.

Jambre recounted that the flood waters, carrying logs, came from different directions leading to the sea.

Julius Nadayag, 34, and his family were swept into the open sea by the strong flood current. They clung on to logs and other floating debris, wood from houses among them. Luckily, they were not carried too far from the shore.

“I’m sure there are still bodies trapped beneath the logs. We can still smell the decaying corpses. They must be the ones crying here at night,” he believes.

He recalled that it was high tide and the waves were strong when the flood came to Barangay Santiago.

The logs, Nadayag said, came from the nearby Mandulog River and slammed into houses.

“The morning after, a lot of bodies, apparently those hit by the logs, were recovered in the neighborhood. The number could have easily risen to over 100,” he said.

But one of his neighbors with his two-year-old son did survive despite being trapped in the pile of logs. Nadayag and the other neighbors happened to chance upon the father-and-son tandem, then helped them out.

Some of the residents of Barangay Santiago have sought shelter in the evacuation camps while some built their makeshift shelters. Those who opted to stay in the area sometimes group together and sleep in their neighbors’ shelters because they are disturbed by the crying voices at night, Nadayag admitted.

Jambre is worried it may take some time for authorities to totally cleanse the shore of decaying bodies.

As of this writing, 481 deaths were already recorded in this city and 891 more in neighboring Cagayan de Oro City. (Keith Bacongco/
MindaNews)

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/23 December) – Playing too much computer games makes some sense, sometimes.

When I got a message from Maj. Jacob Obligado, chief of the 10^th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion, saying that as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, they had so far filled up 18 M35 trucks with relief aid for flashflood victims in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, the PC game Company of Heroes flashed in my mind, particularly the “Red Ball Express Mission,” which is based on history.

The renowned Red Ball Express was the codename for a massive logistics operation of the Allied Forces during World War II in Europe involving about 6,000 trucks and at least 400,000 tons of ammunition, food and fuel.

The huge convoy had become an easy target by German forces but with Germany’s reduced air power after the breakout of D-Day in June 1944, attacks on the convoy became rare.

But unlike the wartime Red Ball Express, which ran for four months, this version of massive transport of supplies was much smaller and carried not war materiel but precious relief aid for the flashflood victims.

The last time I saw a massive military convoy – with trucks towing several howitzers - was in February 2003 in Pikit, North Cotabato, when a battalion of Philippine Marines was deployed during the Buliok war. 

Minus the howitzers, the 25-vehicle convoy on Friday still looked like a massive military movement from a distance. But as you get closer, you’d notice the trucks were filled with relief goods instead of battle-weary soldiers.

Assorted goods

As Ruby and I arrived at the Eastern Mindanao Command at around 7p.m., 20 trucks were already loaded with relief goods and some goods were still arriving.

The 10^th Infantry Division consolidated the donated goods coming from several individuals and organizations. Most of the goods were gathered in less than 48 hours all over the region. And even until Thursday evening, more aid was arriving.

While we were at the military camp, a church-based organization arrived with boxes of medicines, at least a hundred gallons of bottled water and other assorted goods.

Obligado ask the lady who brought the goods if she could produce a banner of their organization to be dangled on the M35 truck.

“No Sir, we don’t need to let the people know that we are helping,” she replied.

But the Army officer clarified that they wanted to let public know that these goods came from different sectors so that it will also encourage other groups to help the people in CDO and Iligan.

“Para malaman ng tao na hindi ito sa amin and we are just facilitating this effort,” he added. The effort is dubbed “Pagtinabangay Caravan Alang sa CDO ug Iligan,” a public-private partnership facilitated by the 10ID.

At a hall where the goods were temporarily stocked, some boxes were yet to be loaded to the trucks.

Among the donated goods were several boxes from St. Mary’s College in Tagum City wrapped just like Christmas gifts, sacks of rice from the local government of Mabini, boxes of papaya, sacks of used clothing, boxes of medicine and noodles.

But Obligado relayed that they received requests from their counterparts in CDO and Iligan to send kitchen utensils, too, for the victims.
Call of duty

With the aid of a lamppost, Capt. Suharto Macabuat led a group of new soldiers in loading the relief goods into the M35 trucks.

One soldier was using the built-in flashlight of his cellphone as they loaded the boxes of relief goods.

Macabuat told MindaNews that he is a flood victim as well as his house in Barangay Tubod, Iligan was partially damaged.

Luckily, his wife and son are in Manila and his nieces, who were the ones staying in their house, were not hurt in the flood.

“My house has a second floor, so they were able to save themselves. Because the water current was not so strong because my house was on a higher ground, but my TV was damaged,” he said.

Macabuat disclosed that about 10 soldiers among the two escort platoons are also flood victims and will visit their families right after the relief operation. For him and his men, it will be their first time to visit their families in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

“I could not say how many are from Iligan but most of the escorts are my fellow Iliganons. But we will assist first in distributing the relief items before visiting our families. That’s our call of duty,” he said.

He added that those soldiers whose families have been affected by the flood in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were the ones selected to escort the convoy so that they can visit their loved ones.

Army escorts flood victims too

The following day, early morning of Friday, we returned to the Eastern Mindanao Command for the sendoff ceremony of the contingent. As we arrived at the camp, three dump trucks from the city government loaded with relief goods also arrived at 6:30a.m.

As we were taking pictures around the row of trucks, I noticed a stern-faced soldier who seemed to lack sleep. When I asked him if his family was a flood victim too, the soldier promptly said yes.

“I will visit my parents in the coastal village of Barangay Tambakan,” 32-year-old Cpl. Rene Barot told MindaNews.

His father is a retired soldier while his mother is a retired teacher. Both are 64 years old.

Barot, a Scout Ranger, said he learned about the flashflood dawn of December 18 after his father sent him a text message while they were on an operation up in the mountains somewhere in Compostela Valley.

He also shared that his comrade in the platoon, a native of Iligan too, cried upon receiving the message from his family that his six carabaos had been swept away by the flood.

The Scout Ranger added that his parents did not evacuate because they had nowhere to go since water was everywhere.

“Nag-abot na ang hightide ug ang baha sa suba, wala na sila paadtuan. Mao to na ang akong mama naghigda na lang daw sa katre kay paabot na lang siya malumos hantud mamatay. Wala naman paadtuan,” (The tide and flood met, they had nowhere to go. That’s why my mother just lay on the bed awaiting her death through drowning. There was nowhere else to go) said Barot.

But the water never got higher than their knees. The flood left knee-deep mud inside their house, he said.

The Army corporal said that the 20-year-old adopted son of his parents is now helping them to remove the mud out of their house.

Barot said his twin brother Renan, also a Scout Ranger in Negros Occidental, had already visited his parents few days ago.

“Dapat mag-abot kami sa Iligan, pero naa pa man kami sa bukid pag-uli niya,” (We should have met in Iligan, but we were still in the mountains when he went home) he said.

The last time he was with his parents was two years ago since his wife and son are living in Tagum City.

Barot said he had no plans to visit his parents this year because of the expensive fares and long bus rides.

Like some of his fellow soldiers whose families are flood victims too, they will help distribute the relief goods first then visit their families for a few hours before heading back to Davao.

But Barot added he may bring his family to Iligan to spend the New Year’s Eve with his parents.

Two-contingent convoy

In his sendoff message, 10ID chief Lt. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero said: “The sight of the dead bodies, the agonizing survivors and the devastated environment is very appalling that even those with a heart of stone will probably shed a tear and offer a helping hand.”

Tabaquero asked a minute of silence for the victims of the flashflood before handing a cash donation of at least P20,000 to Obligado.

Of the total amount, P15,000 were coins collected by the volunteers from tricycle and habal-habal drivers, vendors and other individuals in Maco, Compostela Valley.

At 7a.m., the first 11-truck contingent of the 25-vehicle convoy rolled out of the camp.

Obligado said they decided to divide the convoy into two groups with a 30-minute interval to avoid traffic congestion.

The first group to leave was bound for Iligan and was headed by Macabual. While the second 14-truck convoy left at 7:30a.m. and was headed by Obligado.

The convoy was expected to arrive in Cagayan de Oro around 7p.m.

Upon arrival, Obligado said, each truckload of relief goods will be received by various groups.

The trucks were fully loaded leaving only little room for two to three soldiers and just enough for them to sit with their legs sticking out of the rear gate of the vehicles.

Several residents were seen waving to the convoy as it passed by the diversion road in Buhangin, and the soldiers also waved back and flashed the peace sign. (Keith Bacongco/MindaNews)

Published: MindaNews.Com / 23 December 2011