Survivors return to Provident Village

MANILA, PHilippines - Residents started returning to their homes in Provident Village, Marikina City yesterday as government workers cleared the area of debris brought by the onslaught of typhoon “Ondoy,” which left 72 dead in Marikina alone.

However, they saw that only the foundations remained, and receding floodwaters left about two feet of mud. Able-bodied residents took turns cleaning their homes of mud as they lamented that they received no government help since Ondoy struck last Saturday.

Among those affected were the relatives of ABS-CBN executive Arlene Lim-Farol, whose house was submerged in about three feet of water.

“Everything, except the structures was destroyed,” Farol said, noting that their residence is higher than the average house in Provident Village.

The residents claimed it would take them several days to dig up the mud and bring their lives back to normal.

Marikina police chief Senior Superintendent Romeo Magsalos said some areas in the village already have electricity, but residents have run out of potable water.

“The residents’ priorities are… clean water to drink, clothing, blankets and sleeping mats. Of course, they also need food and any other basic commodities,” Magsalos told The STAR in an interview.

Despite the massive relief operations conducted by Mayor Maria Lourdes Fernando, Magsalos said they still experienced shortage in supplies of food and other necessities. He said they are still closely monitoring the situation in schools converted into evacuation centers.

Magsalos said at least 59 of the recorded fatalities were residents of Provident Village, with the bodies of seven members of a family recovered in Barangay Concepcion Uno. Six other bodies were recovered from other parts of the city.

At the height of typhoon Ondoy, Farol said her parents, siblings and neighbors took refuge on the roof of their house. She said it was her sister, who arrived on board a six-by-six truck, who rescued them. “All the 16 persons who took shelter on the high roof were accounted for,” said Farol , adding that her relatives and household helpers are safe in her house in Manila.

Farol said the ceiling of their house collapsed, “All the window screens were covered by mud. Our appliances, including the big piano, cabinets and others were in total wreck… But my parents, and family survived the raging floodwaters.”

Magsalos also bewailed the fact that the Justice Hall, which houses the local police headquarters, was submerged in chest-deep waters last Saturday. He said the floodwaters have subsided but the police headquarters has neither water nor electricity.

“All our telephone lines are busted and we cannot perform our mandate very well. But we are coping by joining other government agencies in the ongoing clearing operations,” he said.

The Marikina City government has centralized relief operations in affected areas and established headquarters under the flyover in front of the Monasterio de Sta. Clara on Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City.

“All those who want to ask questions, like their missing relatives and others pertinent to the calamity and those who want to donate food and other basic commodities can proceed to the place,” he said adding that donors can contact Tek de Leon at cell phone number 0920-9052914. - By Non Alquitran (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

Text msg on Marikina 'dam' release belied

MANILA - Authorities on Monday belied circulating text messages that water from the "Marikina dam" would be released, causing more flooding.

Marikina Mayor Marides Fernando said there is no such thing as a Marikina dam.

One such text message says: "If you have friends and families along Marcos highway, tell them to stay on a high area because authorities are about to open Marikina Dam. It will affect Marikina, Pasig area and lower Antipolo. So please pass for faster dissemination." Meanwhile, the Office of Civil Defense's Anthony Golez said there are no plans to release water from any other dam at the moment.

In an interview over ANC's on the Scene Monday afternoon, Golez said proper warnings will be given before authorities release water from filled up dams.

"Talking about misinformation, I would like to inform everybody that there is an ongoing text message that dams are going to be opened, that dams are going to spilling water into the different neighborhoods. Let me tell everybody that this information is not correct," he said.

"Even before we have to release water from our dams, we follow certain protocols. As a matter of fact, PAGASA, which is the overseer of the dams, follow certain protocols that even before they release water, they need to warn the communities that are situated within the area of these dams. And after they warn them for a certain period of time, then they are educated, the people are educated which are safe, which areas are not safe," he said.

Philippines asks for help as flood toll hits 140

MANILA (AFP) - – Overwhelmed Philippine authorities appealed for international aid Monday as the death toll from once-in-a-lifetime floods soared to 140 and weary survivors sheltered in squalid conditions.

Two days after the horror storm sent torrents of water through the nation's capital Manila and surrounding provinces, the government conceded it was unable to deal with the disaster on its own and needed urgent help.

"We are appealing for international humanitarian assistance," Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a nationally televised briefing.

"The potential for a more serious situation is there and we cannot wait for that to happen."

Teodoro launched the appeal as he announced the death toll had climbed sharply to 140 people, with another 32 missing and 453,000 forced out of their flooded or destroyed homes. Related article: Looters target homes

The death toll is expected to jump even further, as local authorities reported dozens of other deaths that appear not to have been included in the government's figures.

President Gloria Arroyo described the deluge, which was the worst to hit Manila in more than four decades and left 80 percent of the city under water, as a "once-in-a-lifetime" storm.

"(It) was an extreme event that has strained our response capabilities to the limit. But it is not breaking us," she said. Related article: Disease threat

But with the threat of disease lurking over the disaster zones and relief workers in dire shortage of supplies to help survivors, other officials said authorities were not coping.

"The system is overwhelmed, local government units are overwhelmed," the head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, Anthony Golez, told reporters.

Authorities said some people remained stranded in their flooded homes more than 48 hours after the floods, while power and telephone services were still cut in the worst-hit areas of Manila. Related article: New storm threat

Poor drainage systems meant some places remained waist-deep in water, while vast swathes of the sprawling city of 12 million people were covered in sludge.

In schools, open-air gymnasiums and other makeshift evacuation camps, tens of thousands of people were desperately short of food, water and clothes.

At one gymnasium in eastern Manila, 3,000 people were sheltering in hot and humid conditions alongside the bodies of 11 neighbours lying in coffins.

There was no running water, and human faeces lay only a metre (yards) from where people were sleeping on the concrete floor.

"We are waiting for more aid to arrive. We are trying to mobilise our own relief operations here. But we need more help," the head of the local neighbourhood, Armando Endaya, told AFP. Related article: Flood hero who perished

Edgar Halog, a 44-year-old driver of one of Manila's iconic "jeepney" buses, was sheltering with his wife and seven children.

"We do not have any money, we do not know what to do. We don't have any other relatives. We are waiting for food rations," Halog told AFP.

In a wealthier part of Manila that was also swamped by the floods, residents raced against looters to retrieve televisions and other valuables, with hardly any sign of a police presence.

"We hope to recover something from our home, if there is anything left to recover," said resident Jun de Guzman, 48, as he and three relatives carrying brooms waded in the knee-deep muck covering what was left of Provident Village.

Health authorities also warned of disease outbreaks and appealed to the public for donations of medicine, clean water and food, as well as for medics to volunteer their services.

Infections including swine flu, diarrhoea and the bacterial disease leptospirosis were at the top of the government's list of concerns, Melissa Guerrero, chief aide to the health secretary, told AFP.

Defence Minister Teodoro said that apart from relief goods, funding and medicine, the Philippines may also ask for international rescue teams.

A small number of US forces, stationed in the Philippines to train local forces in combating terrorists, have helped in rescue efforts over the past two days.

After ripping across the Philippines, tropical storm Ketsana was upgraded to a full typhoon and was bearing down on central Vietnam, where officials expected it to make landfall late Tuesday.

Cristine Reyes recounts ordeal

MANILA – As she dreadfully watched the floodwaters devouring her Marikina home, actress Cristine Reyes had feared the worst - she and her family, who were trapped on their rooftop at the height of tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana), would not make it alive.

Floods had already reached the second floor of her home in Princeton Street in Provident Village, forcing them to move to the roof amid heavy downpour.

She, her family and some neighbors swam in floodwaters and then climbed the water tank at the back of the house to reach the rooftop where they would stay for 12 hours before help came. A very drenched Reyes tearfully appealed for help on television.

She recounted: “Talagang nagpra-pray ako, kami ng pamangkin ko na 3 years old. Tinuturuan ko. Sabi ko sa kanya, ‘Sabihin mo Lord God, help us, save us.’ Sinasabi niya. Iyong bata nakikinig sa akin."

“Grabe iyong pinagdaanan namin. Akala ko ending na namin lahat. Pero hindi ako nawalan ng pag-asa. Buti na lang ligtas kami.”

An Army rubber boat finally came early Sunday and, to her surprise, actor Richard Gutierrez was part of the rescue team.

“Sobrang hindi ko ma-imagine iyong ginawa niya. Ni-risk niya iyong buhay niya. Hindi biro iyong nangyari sa akin,” she said.

The 700-square-meter house is still submerged in ankle-deep mud when Reyes returned to her home Monday. She inspected the damage and salvaged some of her belongings.

Reyes is currently staying at sister Ara Mina’s residence in Quezon City. The young actress said she has decided to leave her Marikina house and relocate.

She said although she could no longer save most of her furniture, the most important thing is she and her family are now safe.

“Maraming salamat sa lahat ng tumulong. Sa mga hindi pa nare-rescue hanggang ngayon, sana matulungan natin sila sa abot ng makakaya natin,” she said. -Report from Mario Dumaual, ABS-CBN News