Baguio, Benguet landslide death toll rises to 13
BAGUIO CITY — At least 13 people were killed in several landslides in this city and the nearby town of Atok, Benguet, as days of heavy southwest monsoon (“habagat”) rains triggered erosion and buried houses and residents over the weekend.
In Baguio City, all 13 people trapped in a landslide in Barangay Guisad Surong were accounted for after retrieval operations ended early Tuesday, with 10 confirmed dead and three survivors.
The final four victims who had remained missing as of 5:30 p.m. Monday were recovered during the night. One body was retrieved at 7 p.m., another at 8 p.m., while the final two were recovered at around 2 a.m. Tuesday as work crews and volunteers continued digging through the rubble of three houses buried by the landslide.
According to authorities, the incident occurred at night on Sunday in Purok 2, Barangay Guisad Surong.
The three survivors—a 77-year-old pastor, a 27-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman—were rescued and brought to a hospital for medical observation.
The 10 fatalities included children, the youngest was 2 years old.
He extended his condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones, saying no words could ease the pain of losing a family member in such sudden and tragic circumstances.
“We grieve with every family who waited and hoped during the search, and we share in the sadness that has settled over our community,” Magalong said.
DSWD aid
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Tuesday visited two of the three survivors of the fatal landslide in Barangay Guisad Surong, Baguio City, and consoled the families of the 10 victims.
Gatchalian directed the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Cordillera office to provide financial aid and counseling to survivors and affected residents.
In Atok, three people were killed and a 15-year-old boy survived separate landslides triggered by continuous rains, according to Mayor Franklin Smith on Tuesday.
Smith said two brothers were buried by a landslide at Kilometer 48 on Sunday while they were clearing floodwater that had entered their home.
First responders recovered the remains of the siblings on Monday. The first body was retrieved at 8 a.m., followed by the second at 4 p.m., Smith said.
Their 15-year-old nephew survived and was taken to the Benguet General Hospital for treatment. He was reported to be in stable condition and under medical observation.
Another man was killed in a landslide in Barangay Topdac, with his body recovered on Monday, Smith said in a radio interview. No further details were immediately available.
Smith said the landslides occurred as continuous rains battered the municipality, causing erosion and affecting mountain slopes.
Two barangay routes were also damaged by erosion, including roads leading to tourist destinations.
“We should be vigilant of our surroundings,” Smith said, urging residents to report cracks and other signs of ground movement to police or municipal authorities.
The death toll from the combined effects of the southwest monsoon (habagat) and tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay (international name: Kujira) has risen to 19, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Tuesday.
NDRRMC data as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday showed that most of these deaths resulted from the landslides in Baguio and Benguet.
Earlier in Rizal, two people died in a landslide in Rodriguez, one was killed by a fallen tree in Antipolo City and another drowned in Binangonan.
In Batangas, one person died in a drowning incident in Batangas City, another was electrocuted in Lipa City, and one was killed in a landslide in Santa Teresita.
The NDRRMC also recorded 15 injuries so far, mostly in Benguet.
The agency also said at least 2.27 million people were affected by the onslaught of the weather systems in the National Capital Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Cordillera Administrative Region.
The NDRRMC monitored at least 94,997 people taking shelter inside 919 evacuation centers across the affected regions.
It added that at least 684 houses were reported damaged, of which 45 were totally damaged and 639 were partially damaged.
The agency further noted that the total value of the infrastructure damaged was now at P1.45 billion; and the total value of the agriculture damaged has been now P135.33 million.
Meanwhile, the NDRRMC said at least P73.52 million worth of humanitarian and financial assistance was provided by government agencies so far.
The southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay drenched most of Luzon and parts of Visayas over the past week.Amid the inclement weather, the water level of the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City exceeded its overflow as of Tuesday morning, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Pagasa noted that the dam’s excess water is expected to affect low-lying areas along the Tullahan River, particularly parts of Quezon City, Caloocan City, Valenzuela City, Malabon City and Navotas City.
Farm losses
Agricultural damage from recent tropical cyclones and the southwest monsoon, or “habagat,” is nearing the P200-million mark as of Tuesday, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The DA’s latest bulletin showed that the farm sector incurred P197.2 million in losses due to the combined effects of Tropical Cyclones Luis and Maymay and the enhanced southwest monsoon.
According to the agency, the figure represents a 45.8-percent increase from the P135.3 million in damage recorded by the agency on Monday.
The adverse weather conditions affected 7,989 farmers in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), and Western Visayas regions.
The weather disturbances destroyed 5,515 metric tons of farm production covering 6,973 hectares of agricultural areas.Affected commodities included rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock, as well as agricultural infrastructure, machinery and equipment.
Rice accounted for 72.99 percent of the recorded farm losses, equivalent to P143.67 million, with most of the damage affecting crops in the vegetative and reproductive stages.
