In a blow to residents of Baybay City and Abuyog, Leyte whose relatives are still missing more than two weeks after tropical storm Agaton slammed Eastern Visayas, authorities have decided to halt all search, rescue and retrieval operations in these two areas.
Citing dangers to the rescuers themselves, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) decided last week to stop retrieval operations in areas where landslides buried whole villages in Baybay City and Abuyog.
Abuyog Mayor Lemuel Gin Traya expressed his support for the NDRRMC’s decision, saying that the rescuers will also not be able to do much in the landslide area due to the waist-deep mud that still covered the villages weeks after Agaton battered his town.
A total of 103 residents are still missing in Abuyog while 73 more in Baybay City are unaccounted for.
Considering the time since these victims were buried under a thick flow of mud and debris, authorities are thinking of declaring them as presumed dead.
Reports said a total of 139 houses were destroyed in the landslides, affecting 1,636 residents from four villages with evacuees now inside selected evacuation centers while awaiting the go-signal from geologists before returning to their respective barangays.
However, residents of Barangay Pilar in Abuyog may have to find a new home as the area is most likely to be declared a “no man’s land.”
Only 10 percent of houses in Barangay Pilar were left standing after the landslide, while unstable ground foundations have left some of the remaining houses in danger of total collapse.
Unidentified bodies
At least 10 victims who have been recovered so far in Barangay Pilar are still unidentified, Traya reported.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has sent additional forensic experts to the area to help in identifying the bodies through dental records, fingerprints, clothes and other identifying marks, the mayor added.
Evacuations continue
Meanwhile, 50 more families have been evacuated from Barangay Makinhas after a crack was discovered on the ground which caused at least one house to be swallowed by the ground.
Barangay Kantagos is also being looked at as another area in Baybay City that has been classified as high risk for further landslides, according to the city’s chief geologist Celestina Caranza.
The village is among the 87 percent of Baybay City that has been classified as having moderate to high risk of landslides.
“Our recommendation is not to allow the community to reside there because it is now too hazardous. (In fact) our recommendation is for all areas classified to be high risk, even moderate, to a landslide for the city government hindi na pwede tirahan,” she said.
Loss of livelihood
While many residents of Baybay City and Abuyog now fear returning to what was left of their villages, some said they are forced to return as their livelihood has been rooted in these barangays.
There has also been uncertainty among some affected residents on whether they could find a source of income on the proposed permanent relocation sites allotted to them by the government.
“Mahirap naman kasi ma’am kung aasa nalang kami sa bigay ng ibang tao. Magugutom ang pamilya namin kung wala kaming hanapbuhay,” one survivor told OpinYon 8.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) – Eastern Visayas had already taken steps to provide immediate assistance to the affected farmers of the calamity while further assessments are ongoing to determine the extent of their needs in order to restore their lost livelihood.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region 8 had also sent relief aid to 500 families in Baybay as initial response while assessments are still being conducted to determine the damage of the tropical depression inflicted to the fishing communities of Baybay City and Abuyog.
Wake-up call
Meanwhile, environmentalist Pacencia Milan, who is based in Baybay City, said the landslide incidents could also be attributed to the almost lack of vegetation causing rainwater to easily uproot trees.
Milan, a forrmer president of the Visayas State University, also disclosed that illegal poaching in Barangay Kantagnos had already been reported to exist.
Some locals have confirmed such reports but there has been little to no action to prevent such activities.
“There was continuous rain for three to four days, and there were not enough trees to hold (the rain) water, reason why water and other vegetation pushed the houses down,” Milan said.
“I hope this will serve as a wake-up call for the local government. Hope they will be conscious of replenishing the trees. There is no forest restoration here in Baybay,” she added, amid its various ongoing infrastructures like roads and highways.