President Arroyo is set to fly this morning to the disaster areas, accompanied by Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman.
Ermita heads the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), which is in charge of rescue and relief operations, while Soliman will deliver additional relief goods to survivors and affected families.
DENR regional technical director for research Edilberto Nasayao said the deaths could be attributed to the geological structure of the areas where the landslides occurred.
"The soil at the affected areas is not actually stable," he said.
Nasayao, however, disputed claims that deforestation and illegal logging caused the landslides by reducing the water-holding capacity of the land.
He explained that the soil in the affected areas, with its "clay and sand" mixture, is "not stable enough to build houses on." Days of rain can destabilize this clay-sand mixture enough to trigger landslides, he added.
Nasayao noted that deforestation and illegal logging could not have triggered the landslides in the disaster sites since timberland areas are too far away.
The DENR had warned against building houses in these areas as far back as 1988, according to Nasayao, who said the local governments should tell their constituents where to build houses.
"These landslides can happen again," he said.
DENR Bureau of Mines director Horacio Ramos, on the other hand, said the permanent conversion of forestlands was largely to blame for the landslides.
As much as 85 percent of the forested areas had been converted to coconut plantations and other agricultural areas as early as 1928.
Ramos said deep-rooted trees that could have supported the unstable areas were replaced by shallowly rooted coconut trees.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo and the two Cabinet officials will leave at 8 a.m. today on board a Fokker plane for Tacloban and from there take a helicopter to areas affected by the landslides.
"The President would like to go to the disaster areas once the weather clears up to personally supervise the disaster relief operations," Bunye said.
He added that the national government, through the DSWD, "continues to assist the affected areas where the relief goods flow and the rescue operations are ongoing to retrieve those buried by the mudslide."
Bunye said because of the continuing inclement weather in Leyte, only the US Chinook helicopters, capable of setting out in all kinds of weather, were able to land at affected areas to aid in the rescue operations.
"Massive disaster operations are ongoing and I would like to thank the US government for lending a hand in the delivery of assistance and the search for the missing (landslide victims)," Mrs. Arroyo said.
With widespread deforestation blamed for the Leyte landslides, the President directed the DENR to "get a comprehensive plan in place to restore ecological stability in the areas affected by this recent tragedy."
She instructed the DENR to work closely with other concerned government agencies and non-government organizations to step up reforestation efforts.
"We have to sustain the environment and at the same time, provide alternative sources of income for the people so they will be encouraged to plant trees and build forests," Mrs. Arroyo said.
She pointed out that these moves are "important for the safety and welfare of the people, for the strength of the economy. We must keep the economy strong by fighting for change."
Bunye said the President earlier placed areas in Leyte affected by mudslides under a "state of calamity," authorizing all government units in these areas to tap their respective calamity funds to finance relief and rescue operations.
Under the NDCC’s setup, the local governments have their own "disaster response teams" that are automatically deployed while waiting for national government agencies to send their rescue and relief assistance.
"As far as the national government is concerned, the NDCC is coming up with estimates of the damages and the assistance that will be needed by the various areas," Bunye said.
He added that as of yesterday, the NDCC has not yet come up with official estimates of damages from the landslides.
"Precisely, the purpose of the NDCC is really to make an assessment of the overall damage inflicted in the areas and to come up with recommended assistance for the various disaster areas," Bunye said. — With Marichu Villanueva, Mike Frialde, Rudy Santos, Jaime Laude, Roberto Dejon, Edith Regalado, Ben Serrano, Roel Pareño, Jose Rodel Clapano, AP, AFP