NEW BATAAN: Nearly 200,000 people were homeless and 475 confirmed dead after the Philippines’ worst typhoon this year, officials said on Thursday, as the government appealed for international help.

Typhoon Pablo (international codename: Bopha) ploughed across Mindanao on Tuesday, flattening whole towns in its path as hurricane-force winds brought torrential rain that triggered a deadly combination of floods and landslides.

Erinea Cantilla and her family of six walked barefoot for two days in a vain search for food and shelter through a muddy wasteland near the mountainous town of New Bataan after the deluge destroyed their house and banana and cocoa farm.

“Everything we had is gone. The only ones left are dead people,” Cantilla told Agence France-Presse as her husband, three children and a granddaughter reached the outskirts of the town, which itself had been nearly totally obliterated.

The army said that it was looking for at least 377 missing people, while seeking help for more than 179,000 others who sheltered in schools, gyms and other buildings after losing everything.

Officials said that many victims were poor migrants who flocked to landslide-prone sites like New Bataan and the nearby town of Monkayo to farm the lower slopes of mountains or work at unregulated mines in the gold rush area.

Of the dead, 258 were found on the east coast of Mindanao, while 191 were recovered in and around New Bataan and Monkayo, said Maj. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, head of an army division involved in the search.

The civil defense office in Manila said that 17 people were killed elsewhere in Mindanao, along with nine on the central Visayan islands.

Shell-shocked survivors scrabbled through the rubble of their homes to find anything that could be recovered, as relatives searched for missing family members among mud-caked bodies laid out in rows on tarpaulins.

Civil defense chief Benito Ramos refused to give up hope for the missing.

“There is no time limit—as long as it takes,” he told reporters when asked how long the search and rescue effort would take.

Geologist Mahar Lagmay, head of a government project to map out all flood-prone areas of the country, said that while most people in the affected communities were aware of the danger, they did not know where to go for safety.

“Year after year, whenever there is heavy rain that comes to that place, there are landslides and many people die in those mountainous areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino 3rd said that thoughts of Pablo’s victims had kept him up on Wednesday evening until next morning, adding that he’s feeling bad over the high number of fatalities despite government preparations for the typhoon.

He said that while the death toll is significantly lower than that caused by Typhoon Sendong (International codename: Washi) almost a year ago, even just one casualty is still cause for concern.

Earlier, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said that the President would visit areas devastated by Pablo in the provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental on Friday.

He explained that the President timed the visit to avoid disrupting ongoing relief and rescue operations in the areas.

Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd said that the President has sent food and other supplies by ship to 150,000 people on Mindanao’s east coast where three towns remain cut off by landslides and wrecked bridges.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, on the other hand, said the President has instructed government authorities to prevent typhoon victims from returning to their homes in areas classified as danger zones.

During his meeting with local officials in Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental and Surigao del Sur province, Binay relayed the President’s directive to clear all danger zones.

“For their own safety, residents should not be allowed to return to danger zones,” Binay told local executives.

He expressed concern over the negative impact of Typhoon Pablo on agriculture, particularly to banana and coconut plantations.

“About 500 hectares were affected, equivalent to P5-billion worth of damages,” Binay said.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said that the government had sought help from the Swiss-based International Organization for Migration to build temporary shelters to ease the pressure on evacuation camps.

The United States and Japan had already offered emergency assistance.
Other related developments:

• Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, has cancelled the scheduled Christmas party with his staffs at the Senate and will donate the intended budget to typhoon victims instead.

• The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Thursday deployed two elite rescue teams to Compostela Valley to help in the search, rescue and retrieval operations in the areas severely affected by the typhoon.

• Albay province donated P1-million aid and sent off humanitarian mission to assist typhoon victims in Mindanao.

• Representatives have adopted a resolution pledging to donate at least P5,000 each for typhoon victims, with the amount to be deducted from their monthly salary.

A price freeze on basic necessities is now being implemented in Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Surigao del Sur, the three provinces badly hit by Pablo that are now declared under a state of calamity, Department of Trade and Industry official said on Thursday. With automatic control in place, prices of basic products must remain at prevailing levels for not more than 60 days, as prescribed by Republic Act 7581 or the Price Act.

• Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said that the devastation wrought by Pablo underscored the need to continue the imposition of a total log ban in the Davao and the Caraga regions. He noted that 80 percent of the remaining illegal logging “hotspots” are located in the provinces hardest hit by “Pablo.”

AFP, Jing Villamente, Catherine S. Valente, Ritchie A. Horario, Jefferson Antiporda, Rhaydz B. Barcia, Raadee S. Sausa, James Konstantin Galvez, Neil A. Alcober and Vincent Khristopher G. Defensor