US Navy personnel joined rescue operations in Metro Manila and outlying areas, where thousands of residents remain affected by heavy flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ondoy over the weekend. In a text message coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, US Embassy spokesman Rebecca Thompson said their government had deployed Navy personnel and inflatable boats to the “launch site on Marikina River near Camp A, en route Cainta, to help AFP/NDCC [Armed Forces of the Philippines/National Disaster Coordinating Council] in their search and rescue of people.”

In a later text message to The Manila Times, Thompson said: “Two boats and [a] small personnel contingent were sent since we don’t have training exercises at the moment, but we’re in contact with NDCC and the US military to see what more is needed for the recovery of the people in the affected areas.”

Earlier on Saturday, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney called Sen. Richard Gordon, also chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, to offer $50,000, or around P2.3 million, in immediate disaster relief assistance through the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance of the US Agency for International Development.

Thompson described the damage caused by the storm as “heartbreaking.”

Embassy donations

The Chinese Embassy in Manila said it was also ready to donate $10,000 (about P2.3 million) to the Philippine National Red Cross.

Ambassador Liu Jianchao also expressed his sympathy to the Filipinos in behalf of the Chinese government.
The Australian Government Aid Program is also set to provide assistance and is already coordinating with Red Cross and the civil defense.

The United Nations Children’s Fund already provided food and nonfood items worth P5.3 million and tarpaulin covers worth $31,000.

Rescue efforts

This was the case in Rizal province, where people who had lost almost everything to the floods waded through mud to look for food, water and shelter. At press time, the military was trying to rush food to affected residents.

Whole sections of roads leading from Marikina City (Metro Manila to San Mateo town (Rizal) had been ripped up while the Batasan Road was choked with debris and stalled vehicles.

In Makati City, 417 families from 14 barangay were evacuated Saturday, Councilor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. said.

By Sunday afternoon, he said only five families, or 46 persons, remained at the East Rembo Multi-Purpose Hall.

Binay, who heads the Makati Rescue and Command Center, said that as early as 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, disaster and emergency response teams had been mobilized and deployed to flood-prone villages of the city with orders to evacuate threatened families to designated evacuation areas and provide them relief.

“When there appeared to be no letup in the downpour, we immediately formed and dispatched rescue teams to flood-prone areas to assist families who needed to be evacuated. Our barangay officials were also quick to take action and ensured that our operations were well coordinated,” he said.

“At present, teams of MSWD social workers and personnel are going house-to-house in the affected barangay to provide relief goods and other forms of assistance needed by families, even those who were not evacuated,” Marjorie de Veyra, Acting City Administrator and Makati Social Welfare chief, said.

Makati barangay affected flooding were Bangkal, La Paz, San Antonio, Olympia, Kasilawan, Carmona, Pio del Pilar, Tejeros, San Antonio and Palanan in District I; East Rembo, Rizal, Pembo and Pinagkaisahan in District II.

Killed during rescue

Two soldiers and three members of Civilian Active Auxiliary (CAA) were killed in two separate incidents in Laguna province while conducting search and rescue operations.

The fatalities were identified as Private First Class Venancio Ancheta, Corporal Adriano Regua, Joel Hernalin, Erineo Olaguer and Florencio Dequiño.

Two other members of the Civilian Active Auxiliary remained missing since Saturday night.
According to reports reaching the Philippine Army headquarters, the victims, who were from the Second Infantry (Jungle Fighter) Division, responded to the emergencies cause by flash floods in Famy and Mabitac.

Ancheta was able to transfer twenty victims to safer grounds before he was swept away by strong water current, according to reports. His body was recovered by elements of the Disaster Relief and Rescue Unit of the 16th Infantry Battalion in Tunhac village at around 6:15 a.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, Regua, Hernalin, Olaguer, Dequiño and the two missing Civilian Active Auxiliary members died while trying to save residents in Nanguma village in Mabitac. Their bodies were recovered along Manila East Road in Sitio Johnson, also in Nanguma.

Army commanders in the affected areas have already declared red alert status and recalled all personnel for deployment to affected areas.

Llanesca T. Panti, Cris G. Odronia, Jefferson Antiporda and Francis Earl A. Cueto