Search for 4 missing in Lanao del Sur landslide continues amid relief efforts

ILIGAN CITY — Efforts to find the four missing persons here continue amid the distribution of relief assistance from the provincial government of Lanao del Sur and the Calanogas local government unit (LGU) for landslide victims, an official said. At least seven persons died in Calanogas after they were buried in a landslide before dawn Friday due to heavy rains induced by Super Typhoon Inday and the southwest monsoon (habagat) in the past few days. On Saturday, the Calanogas LGU placed the town under a state of calamity, citing the massive destruction of roads and communities due to landslides triggered by days of heavy rains. Shamenodin Sambitory, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) head, told the Inquirer that at least 58 families were affected by landslides. The figure is expected to rise as assessments were still ongoing. He said the search and retrieval operation continued for the four missing persons believed to have been buried by landslides. Sambitory said that Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. directed the Provincial Social Welfare Development Office (PSWDO) to extend relief assistance, which includes food packs, hygiene kits and kitchen utensils, to the victims. The distribution of relief goods to the affected families was done house to house, he said. “Those who lost their homes stayed with their relatives, and not in the evacuation center,” Sambitory said. He added the the roads in the municipality is already passable with the clearing of debris, but electricity has yet to be restored. /apl