Foreign and local teams battled bad weather in the continuing search for survivors from Friday’s tragedy, picking their way carefully through dangerous mud and muck where more than a thousand people are believed buried.
Large-scale joint war exercises involving about 5,000 American troops opened yesterday, with a US general ready to divert as many of his forces as needed to help in the landslide-hit village of Guinsaugon where up to 1,800 people are feared dead.
Washington had already diverted at least two warships with 17 helicopters and about 1,000 Marines to Guinsaugon, in the eastern part of Southern Leyte province, where would-be rescuers have been frustrated in finding survivors after part of a mountain collapsed Friday.
US Marine Brig. Gen. Mastin Robeson said he was ready to send more troops.
Asked how many men he could provide, Robeson replied, "Whatever they ask for. I have 5,000 people here."
Robeson heads the US military contingent joining "Balikatan," the biggest of 37 annual joint war exercises between longtime military allies Washington and Manila.
US and Philippine officials declared the exercises open in an austere ceremony at military headquarters, saying some participants would be able to demonstrate the real spirit of "Balikatan," Filipino for shoulder-to-shoulder, by shifting from scenario-driven exercises to real action in the disaster area.
"This is Balikatan, this is shoulder to shoulder planned out in a very real world," Robeson said.
The amphibious ships USS Essex and the USS Harper’s Ferry sailed to Leyte with an advance team of American forces, who helped Filipino soldiers dig Monday in the mud covering a school where more than 200 children and teachers were buried. Another group of Marines brought sound detectors, seeking signs of life.
Fresh from Iraq and headed originally for war games in the Philippines, hundreds of US Marines have instead found themselves digging through the mud in an attempt to save landslide victims.
The USS Essex and USS Harper’s Ferry were docking Friday at Subic Bay, the former US naval base in Zambales, when they received urgent orders to turn around and head for Southern Leyte.
The high-profile American assistance came after the recent indictment of four Marines for alleged rape. The servicemen have been restricted to quarters at the US Embassy in Manila. They had completed counterterrorism exercises with Filipino troops when the alleged Nov. 1 rape took place at the Subic freeport zone in Zambales.
The Philippine government has sought custody of the Marines, but Washington refused, infuriating left-wing groups and some lawmakers, who have threatened to abrogate the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement that allows American troops to conduct exercises in the country.
Balikatan, traditionally held in camps near Manila, is sending about 250 American troops for humanitarian projects in Jolo, Sulu, a stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas who are on a US list of terrorist organizations.
A bomb exploded late Saturday, killing one and wounding 28 near Jolo’s military headquarters, where US soldiers are encamped under heavy guard. No American was injured, but the bombing, which authorities blame on the Abu Sayyaf, heightened concerns for the Americans’ safety.
"Our main activity has been searching for survivors on the site," said Col. James Vohr, commander of a US Marine expeditionary unit service support group that arrived Sunday.
"We’re going to supply support to both the site and the evacuation centers," Vohr told AFP in St. Bernard, the staging post for the rescue.
One platoon with shovels and body bags trekked Monday towards the presumed site of the village school, which has become the focus of the search. More than 200 children and 40 teachers are buried there.
The rest of the 225-member US Marine team now on site will be setting up a water purification system on the site Monday, Vohr said.
Fifteen giant helicopters from the Essex have been flying to the site with supplies from Tacloban City to the north.
In Manila, Robeson, joint exercise director, said more than half the US soldiers involved in Balikatan — about 2,500 to 3,000 — had been diverted to help the rescue.
Robeson said up to 500 troops could be deployed in Guinsaugon, with the rest manning three ships that would be used to ferry relief supplies.
The remainder would conduct joint anti-terrorism training with Filipino troops in strife-torn Sulu, Cebu and various points in Luzon.
"We can do it simultaneously — I think it’s a win-win situation. We’re still working together shoulder-to-shoulder. We’re not skipping a beat," Robeson told reporters.
Vohr said the US Marines have had previous experience as a quick-reaction team to natural disasters.
Parts of his unit had just come back from Iraq while some were being rotated in, he added.
The war games, and the unscheduled rescue mission, are taking place amid controversy over a rape case.
"It’s a most unfortunate situation," Vohr said.
"The US military and Marine Corps came down to visit the Philippines with the best intentions and hopefully this (rescue) will show the people of the Philippines our intentions."
Aside from the presence of Islamic militants in the south, American forces in Leyte could have faced a threat from communist guerrillas.
Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman Gregorio Rosal said in a statement Sunday that its armed wing the New People’s Army would not attack US troops involved in humanitarian work on Leyte.
But he said "any American provocateur caught straying into rebel zones will be hit."
Most Marines do not carry firearms around Saint Bernard but teams are always escorted by armed Filipino soldiers and police. — AP, AFP