MANILA, 5 December 2004 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday ordered all logging activity in the country suspended as the nation looked for culprits in the disaster that has claimed up to 1,000 lives in Luzon.
Arroyo flew by helicopter to the devastated towns of General Nakar, Infanta and Real in Quezon province early yesterday, where she ordered the suspension of logging permits all over the country.
Reinforcing a widely held belief that years of illegal logging set off the deluge, Arroyo told reporters: “I’m canceling all (logging) permits here and suspending issuance of all others.”
Arroyo said illegal loggers would be prosecuted like terrorists, kidnappers, drug traffickers and other hardened criminals and called for unity amid the disaster.
“Our unity will lift up the nation from this tragedy in no time and bring justice to those who have needlessly suffered,” she said.
The government has 18 timber licensing agreements outstanding covering just over 800,000 hectares (1.98 million acres), according to the environment and natural resources department.
The government agency estimates the country’s actual forest cover at seven million hectares (17.3 million acres).
Mayors reported to Arroyo that floods and landslides that hit the three towns on the northeast coast of Luzon island amid a storm late Monday have left 495 people dead and 508 missing, said Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, who was with the president.
The total number of confirmed deaths in Quezon and in the neighboring provinces of Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya and Bulacan as of yesterday reached 640 dead and close to 400 remained missing and presumed dead.
Officials, worried over rapidly dwindling relief goods, asked for more food, clothes, medicine and construction materials to help thousands of villagers overcome the devastation from the storm and typhoon.
In Real, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Manila, hundreds of residents lined up for food at a school turned into a relief center.
“If there’s a continuous flow of support, we can make it,” Mayor Arsenio Ramallosa said as he supervised the distribution of food and relief goods. “But at the moment, the government’s relief supplies would only be good for three days.”
Heroes
President Arroyo, her boots muddied after visiting typhoon-ravaged areas, received loud applause from residents of the town, where about 240 people were killed and 144 remained missing.
Arroyo shook the hands of villagers and soldiers, telling them: “Congratulations, you are heroes.” She later walked into a relief center to help distribute plastic bags of rice and canned sardines, and handed a 1-million-peso ($17,850) check to Ramallosa to fund relief activities.
About 90 percent of the mostly thatch houses in Real, a coastal town of about 40,000 farmers and fishermen, were damaged when floodwaters uprooted trees and sent boulders and debris rampaging down nearby hills that many say were denuded by loggers.
Most of the devastation was wrought by Tropical Storm Winnie that blew through northeastern provinces late Monday, said military chief of staff Gen. Efren Abu.
About 500 soldiers plodded by foot, sometimes through chest-deep mud, to bring relief goods and help search for the missing in far-flung villages in Quezon isolated by broken bridges and blocked roads. At least 19 helicopters and two ships were being used to ferry food and medicine, the military said.
It Came With a Boom
Residents tearfully recalled hearing a booming sound and then the sudden crash of floodwaters, boulders, trees and mud that swept away houses and people.
Gloria Rodriguez, 66, said she was in her house with a daughter, son and 10 grandchildren when their dwelling was hit by torrents of water and debris “in an instant, giving us only enough time to save ourselves.”
Her daughter was swept away and has not been found.
Typhoon Nanmadol then struck the same region late Thursday, leaving 13 dead and 19 missing, according to the Office of Civil Defense.
Help Pouring In
While officials worried about dwindling relief supplies, help from local and foreign groups began pouring in.
The United Nations sent a team of experts Friday to help the government “in assessing the extent of the damage and coordinating the international response to the disaster,” UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York.
AN international, nonprofit group has pledged to give over 35 million pesos worth of relief goods to 21,500 families in Quezon province. World Vision, an international, independent non-government organization that focuses on child welfare and community development, would be bringing the items to Real, Infanta and General Nakar.
Each of the 21,500 families will receive a relief package with P1,650 worth of food and other items. In each package would be 25 kilos of rice, four liters of water, a can of biscuits, canned goods, noodles, blankets, flashlights and medicine.
Various community organizations in Saudi Arabia were also preparing to raise money and clothing for the victims, while banks and other companies in the Philippines contributed to groups who were collecting donations in cash or in kind. (i>(Additional input from agencies)
