• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
Given the number of missing persons due to the onslaught of Typhoon Tino in the Negros Island Region, authorities are facing difficulties in search and retrieval operations because of the lack of specialized K9 units.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, at least 69 persons were reported dead as a result of the effects of the typhoon, while 65 others are still missing across the region.
The death toll in Negros Occidental rose to 52, while 54 are missing. The town of La Castellana has the most casualties, with 10 deaths and 18 missing.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) Chief Irene Bel Ploteña said that the province is still in need of specialized K9 units for the ongoing search and retrieval of the possible cadavers across the affected areas of the province, particularly in the fifth district.
Only two K9 teams were operating in La Castellana and La Carlota. The province is seeking augmentation from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for the deployment in Moises Padilla.
“Right now, only the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) has deployed K9 units in La Castellana and La Carlota. We are now requesting to PCG [NIR]; however, all their assets were first deployed to Cebu,” she said.
Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOrPPO) spokesperson PLt. Stephen Polinar said yesterday that the death toll in Oriental has risen to 17, with 11 persons still missing.
The recent typhoon severely struck Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, which left the city with 16 deaths as of yesterday. Another death was reported in Vallehermoso town.
Oriental authorities also faced the same difficulties, as the available K9 units in the province are specialized for drugs and bomb retrieval, Polinar said.
“Right now our problem is that all available K9 units we have right now are for drugs and bombs, but we have no units specialized for searching cadavers,” he stressed, citing the vital need of the augmentation from other regions.
Further, most of the main roads in Occidental and Oriental were now passable after the clearing operations. Electric power was also gradually being restored across the region, authorities reported.*
