16,000 children ‘suffered the most’ from 'Pablo'

MANILA, Philippines - Besides claiming lives and damaging property, Typhoon Pablo left over 16,000 children distressed, sick or in need of counseling at the municipality of Veruela in Agusan del Sur or 55 kilometers from the worst-hit province of Compostela Valley, an international group said.

Plan International, a children’s charity, reported that 2,200 of these children have shown signs of “serious distress, barely speaking and not engaging with their families or friends.”

Many of the children witnessed the loss of their homes, parents, siblings and family members—exceptional events that could cause trauma and other psychological problems, country director Carin van der Hor said.

“When disasters hit, they always hit the most vulnerable the hardest. So when [Pablo] hit Mindanao, the children in these areas suffered the most,” Van der Hor, a Dutch national, added.

Veruela Municipal Social Welfare and Development officer Elvira Dagaraga said that thousands of children hit by Pablo remain in remote and isolated villages and are in need of dire help.

“We urgently need psycho-social help - but we have no expertise to provide it ourselves,” Dagaraga told the group, adding that she has never experienced such a disaster in her 30 years of stay in the area.

The social worker also mentioned that besides children are pregnant women, lactating mothers and newborn babies in evacuation centers where food and water are insufficient and they are exposed to all kinds of health risks.

Child abuse, trafficking likely

The non-profit organization, which is “strongly lobbying” for child protection and response efforts in the stricken areas, also said that there is a high possibility of child abuse and trafficking in protracted relief situations as this.

Though there has not yet been any report of such incidents from victims of Pablo, abuse and trafficking were experienced from Typhoon "Sendong" in December last year.

“The absence of private and child-friendly spaces in evacuation centers make children especially vulnerable to all forms of abuse,” Plan International said in a statement.

The risks are especially high as 80 percent of those affected by the calamity are women and children, the group said, citing a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs  report.