3 Capas men who died in rescue cited as heroes

CAPAS, Tarlac , Philippines   – The municipal council here will pass a resolution to honor as heroes the three residents who died while trying to rescue foreign tourists trapped by landslides on the slopes of Mt. Pinatubo last Thursday.

“They will be posthumously honored and their families will be invited to the ceremonies at the municipal hall this Monday,” Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan told The STAR.

He identified the honorees as barangay tanod Fidel Reila, tourist guide Orlando Fernando, and gold panner Armando Bacani.

The three residents reportedly drowned while trying to rescue the tourists who were swept by mudflows near Crow Valley in Capas.

French tourists Martine Cholet and Thierry Chailot and Belgian Walter Steylian died during the incident, while five other French and three Korean tourists survived.

Catacutan said the families of the three “heroes” will also be given cash rewards.

“I myself will take care of their families’ funeral expenses,” he added.

Catacutan said Air Force and Army officers and personnel who were involved in the rescue operations will also be given commendations on Monday.

He specifically cited 1Lt. Eddie Layan who was injured in the rescue operations.

Pinatubo treks suspended

Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz, Central Luzon police director and chairman of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council, said treks to Mt. Pinatubo have been suspended indefinitely.

“The volcano will remain off-limits to tourists during this rainy season and as long as a thorough probe on the accident is pending and more studies on safety measures for trekkers are done and implemented,” he said.

The Department of Tourism has been promoting Pinatubo’s crater lake as a major tourist attraction in Central Luzon after the volcano erupted in 1991.

Catacutan said drivers of four-wheel drive vehicles on Pinatubo’s slopes are now required to get certification on their driving proficiency from the Land Transportation Office.

“These drivers as well as tourist guides will also be trained by the Philippine Air Force in swimming, medical first aid, and other basic skills for rescue operations,” he said.

Meanwhile, Orlando Pineda, chief of the geosciences division of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Central Luzon, confirmed that the Pinatubo Development Council (PDC) did not get any permit from their agency to build the so-called Skyway route to Pinatubo’s slopes.

The tourists used the Skyway, which provided a shorter route to the crater.

Pineda said he was not aware that the PDC had submitted the required engineering, geological and geo-hazard report required for such a road project on Pinatubo’s slopes.

De la Cruz earlier had said that Capas officials could be held liable for criminal negligence for allowing the tourists to go up Pinatubo despite the bad weather brought by typhoon “Kiko.”

Catacutan, however, said the typhoon was reported to be moving out of Batanes at the time the tourists set for the crater lake and that the weather was fine.

Meanwhile, President Arroyo cut short her scheduled visit to Guagua, Pampanga yesterday and flew to Botolan, Zambales to check on the typhoon victims there, pledging to fast-track rehabilitation and relief efforts in the affected communities.

Floodwaters isolated five Zambales towns, as strong currents from the river sought a new path, destroying a portion of the national highway in Barangay Carael.

There is no other way to reach the northern part of Zambales, except by going around and passing through Pangasinan.

Joining the President were Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane and National Disaster Coordinating Council chief Glen Rabonsa.

In a dialogue with evacuees at the Upper San Juan Evacuation Center, Mrs. Arroyo gave assurance that the government will closely coordinate with Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso in providing some 18,000 typhoon victims with alternative housing as their houses had been swept away or were nearly or totally buried by mud.

Mrs. Arroyo instructed Teodoro, Ebdane and Rabonsa to work together to speed up the rehabilitation of the damaged dike and the construction of a temporary bridge to connect northern and southern Zambales.

2 miners still missing

In a related development, rescuers in Benguet are racing against time to find two more missing miners.

The rescuers have been scouring the creeks in Barangay Kias in Baguio for three days to as far as downstream Bued River in Tuba.

The death toll has risen to 12 after the decomposing body of Joel Caligdan, a miner from Isabela, was found in a river in Tuba before noon Monday.

Cordillera disaster officials led by Chief Superintendent Orlando Pestano, regional police director, however, is optimistic that pocket miners John Guinoban and Cipriano Millet could still be alive. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ric Sapnu, James Mananghaya, Artemio Dumlao and Bebot Sison