Int’l tent city rises in Saint Bernard

A whole international tent city has sprung up on the fringes of a sea of earth that was once the village of Guinsaugon in Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, where local and foreign rescuers continue to hope for miracles in their search for survivors.

There are Taiwanese and Malaysian flags. Spaniards brought two sniffing dogs, and three more were on the way yesterday.

Dozens of US Marines from two US navy ships anchored off Leyte mingle with Philippine Army troops, miners and others on a small patch of rain-soaked earth, which serves as a base for the rescue operation.

They will be joined by a contingent of 40 Indonesian soldiers that left for the Philippines yesterday.

The contingent, including a 28-member medical team, was expected to remain in the Philippines for about one month, Indonesian military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said.

Language is a problem for the US Marines, but they have specialists and interpreters. A few are Filipino-Americans.

Yesterday, Capt. Mark Paolicelli, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, looked for a Spanish-speaking Marine to talk to the Spanish team about getting the dogs to the site of an elementary school — the focus of the rescue effort. He found one within minutes.

An American pastor sticks out among the US Marines, Taiwanese and Malaysian teams and Filipino volunteers from all over the archipelago.

Dressed in shorts, flip-flops or muddy rubber boots and a striped shirt, Gerry Brown carries a badge reading "Sheriff’s Dep. Riverside." He’s the sheriff’s chaplain in Riverside, California.

Brown has seen large-scale death and destruction before, at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 and during the December 2004 South Asia tsunami disaster.

Now the corpulent, bearded pastor from the U-Turn for Christ evangelical church based in Perris, California, wades through waist-deep mud in what was once a farming community.

Brown said his small Filipino church team has offered counseling to local rescuers, officials and volunteers, who are losing hope fast.

"Morale is down," said Brown, who is affiliated with the foundation of evangelist Billy Graham. "But we’ll stay here as long as necessary."

He said he arrived at the site of the terrorist attacks in New York City soon after they happened, and was active in counseling Thai survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

"This is just horrific," he said. "I was on Samar island for a pastors’ conference when this happened. I just jumped on a truck and drove down here."

Keeping hope alive is difficult. "With every day gone by, chances of finding people alive are slim," said Brown.

Every morning, Marine Lance Corp. Christian Carney, from Long Island, New York, plays "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes.

Some Marines applaud, then grab shovels and communication gear, line up and board the back of dump trucks for a short ride, then walk up in the mud to dig or clear a path for payloaders approaching the devastation.

"It’s real wet, so it’s better if you keep walking," said Lt. Col. Mark Deluna, from San Diego, California. — AP, AFP