CRS vows to raise $.28 M for mudslide victims

The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has committed to raise at least $280,000 (roughly P14.28 million) to help the residents of Barangay Guinsaugon in Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte which a massive mudslide engulfed last Feb. 17, leaving hundreds dead or missing.

The CRS, an international humanitarian agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said it has already raised over $93,000, or about one-third of their target collection, as of Wednesday.

In a statement, the CRS said it would bring to the country its shelter expert, Graham Saunders, to help the government develop a strategy for relocating more than 300 families who survived the mudslide.

CRS officials said the relocation of the Guinsaugon residents is their top priority, adding that they have begun looking for a safe location for their permanent houses.

The CRS has been working with Caritas International in providing rice, sleeping mats, canned goods, soap and milk (for children) and other essentials to the affected families.

Guinsaugon was buried under more than a billion cubic meters of mud. As of Feb. 28, authorities confirmed that 972 residents were still missing and presumed dead.

At the height of the search and rescue operations, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president, called on the social action directors of all dioceses to coordinate their efforts and resources with the National Secretariat for Social Action.

"This way we can more efficiently harness our disaster response programs and rehabilitation initiatives for the (Guinsaugon) families," Lagdameo said.

CRS has been working in the Philippines since 1945 when it was tasked to help in relief and reconstruction efforts after the Second World War.