Hungry, homeless victims scramble for relief goods

REAL, Quezon — Thousands of hungry and homeless survivors from last week’s typhoons scrambled for food yesterday even before military helicopters bearing relief goods could land on the ground.

"For four days we have been without food. My family survived only by eating uncooked saba and camote (sweet potatos)," Ma. Fatima Sanchez said, clutching her child to her chest.

Sanchez was one of thousands of residents of Real, Infanta and General Nakar — towns rendered inaccessible by landslides — who had to forage for food and water while waiting for relief goods to be airlifted to them.

She said the drinking water "smelled of decomposing human flesh" from bodies "left along the streets," coastlines and river banks.

A resident of Infanta claimed that the local National Food Authority outlet disobeyed an order of President Arroyo to assist typhoon victims, instead jacking up the price of rice from P16 to P19 per kilo.

"They are now selling one sack of rice at P900 when it used to cost only P600. They know we lost almost everything. How can we buy rice?" he asked. "Because of hunger, we are eating even unripe, immature saba." Saba is a variety of native bananas.

Local officials said survivors have started looting abandoned houses still left standing. Nestor Cuento and his wife Elizabeth claimed their store at Barangay Ilog, Infanta was ransacked by hungry residents. The couple had been stranded in Manila since Tuesday when they went for a medical check-up.

Survivors also elbowed each other to hitch a ride on the four military helicopters, which had carried food, clothing, drinking water and medicines.

"We don’t have anything left for us here. That is why most of us are moving to Metro Manila to seek shelter with our relatives," Sanchez said.

Sanchez and her child, along with four other families, made up the second batch of evacuees airlifted from Barangay Banagoo in Infanta.

Once the blocked highway is cleared, Sanchez said she will return to Infanta and fetch a daughter she left with a relative.

Gilda Sol, 29, was due to deliver her second baby two days ago. She was one of the first ones to be flown out of the badly ravaged town of Infanta.

"There is nothing for me here, so I will live with my relatives in Pandacan," Manila, she said.

Erlinda Mendoza, 50, said she and her entire family are moving out of Infanta because their farm was destroyed by flash floods. They will stay in Sampaloc, also in Manila.

Asked about the threat posed by decomposing bodies threatening to contaminate the drinking water in Infanta, Army doctor Maj. Ma. Socorro Macaraeg said cases of gastroenteritis — apparently caused by contaminated water — have significantly increased.

Col. Jaime Buenaflor, commander of military forces in the area, said the death toll may reach more than 1,000. Though his men have already penetrated into Real, Infanta and General Nakar, he said many bodies still lie undiscovered.

Rescuers claimed that hundreds of bodies remain buried in mudslides in Tanauan, Real, and that 75 more were buried alive by a landslide near the Umiray River in General Nakar.

"This is not yet in the official report," said Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Efren Abu, who spearheaded the airlifting of relief goods to typhoon victims.

Army chief Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga supervised operations to clear the national highway leading to Real, Infanta and General Nakar. Mud, boulders and logs from the Sierra Madre mountain range had buried much of the three towns of 110,000 people on Monday amid heavy rain.

A Navy vessel was en route to the port of nearby Infanta port overnight Friday to deliver earthmoving equipment to Infanta, Real and General Nakar, three towns that accounted for most of the casualties, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz said in Manila.

He said this would speed up the search for the missing and clear roads cut by landslides.

Clearing operations have only reached up to Tanauan, but highway engineers are rushing to reach Barangay Tignoan, where rescuers and villagers said over 100 people seeking shelter from the storm were buried alive under the Repador building last week.

At Tignoan, the sickening smell of rotting flesh mixed with the salty sea air as Jose Camacho clawed at the mud with his bare hands in search for his wife and son believed buried under a huge slab of concrete.

The two-feet thick masonry is all that remains of the Repador building. Camacho’s wife and his son, as well as eight other relatives, were among the scores that flocked to Repador, the only two-storey concrete structure in the village. Residents thought that it would withstand the rampaging mudslide.

Camacho’s bare feet and legs bore deep scratches and his eyes were red and shot after nearly a week without sleep, but Camacho said he would not give up and would continue the search even by himself.

Only 30 people, mostly men, have remained in the village on the outskirts of Real town, while others have fled fearing more landslides. Some said they could not stand the strong smell of rotting flesh and were afraid of disease.

Punching holes though the concrete using hammers and whatever manual tools they could find, rescuers had retrieved about 40 bodies from the site. At least 80 more are buried, according to Marie Sor, the building’s caretaker.

"My two young children and husband were buried there," Sor, who has not slept for days either, said in between sobs.

She said God had saved her when she was forced to make an errand at the height of the storm. "I had just left when it suddenly crumbled."

Villagers buried their dead in mass graves on the seashore, while those that were in an advanced state of decomposition were burned in makeshift funeral pyres on the concrete slab.

The bloating feet of several dead people still buried under the rubble stuck out from the fallen roof. Bibles and rosaries were scattered everywhere, as well as broken dolls, pillows, wallets, and personal mementos.

Residents here appealed on the national government to bring in food, medicine and heavy earth moving equipment. Electricity and communication lines were down, while drinking water was fast running low.

"Most of all, we need formalin (formaldehyde). The bodies are smelling," Camacho said.

He said food was scarce and that in some evacuation centers fights have erupted between starving residents.

"We don’t have anything to eat anymore. There is no rice, no water, no electricity. Please help us," said young mother Nory Ruiz, 24, clutching to her chest her four-year-old sickly son. "He needs medicine."

In Real, troops armed with automatic weapons were guarding food packs in the main pier.

But many areas remained inaccessible, with bridges brought down by the mud and stretches of the coastline strewn with huge logs and trees washed down from the mountains threatening to sink small vessels.

Covered in mud and carrying rations, Rey Perez, walked two days across the mountain to reach this fishing village where he said he would try to rent a small boat to take him to the nearby town of Infanta.

He had left his wife and seven children inside the family jeep that got stuck in waist-deep mud.

"I left them with my wife. I had to get my cousins to help us bring food and rescue them," Perez said, adding that he had lost contact with them two days earlier.

"I believe they are alive. I have nothing else to hold on to."

In the Bicol Region, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said a total of 1,043 houses were totally destroyed while another 7,424 were partially damaged.

OCD regional director Arnel Capili said typhoon "Yoyong" claimed 12 lives in Bicol and left six others injured and another six missing.

He initially placed the damage to agriculture in the region at P27.35 million, with Camarines Norte sustaining the most damage at P12.69 million.

Public works officials said many road networks in the Bicol region are still blocked by landslides and several bridges were washed out.

In Nueva Vizcaya, Yoyong claimed the lives of 15 people and left more than 25,000 families homeless. Most of them were residents of Bambang, the province’s vegetable trading center.

Bambang Mayor Pepito Balgos said it would take millions of pesos to construct another flood-control dam that was destroyed by Yoyong.

Damage to crops, livestock, irrigation systems, roads, bridges, school buildings, and communication facilities were initially placed at P500 million.

The town of Quezon in Nueva Vizcaya remained isolated as the typhoon swept away the 170-meter concrete bridge that linked it to the rest of the province.

Thompson Lantion, spokesman for Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, said they are now working on providing boats to ship basic commodities to the town.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) chairman Sen. Richard Gordon reported they received P43 million in donations and pledges for the typhoon victims.

Gordon said they need to raise more than P100 million to cover the immediate needs of 50,000 families worst hit by the typhoons.

Globe has responded to Gordon’s appeal by launching Txt2Donate to enable its subscribers to make contributions in denominations of P5, P25, P50 or P100 to the PNRC’s typhoon fund. Subscribers may send "RED<space><amount>" to 2899. — With Celso Amo, AFP