• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
The Office of Civil Defense Negros Island Region (OCD-NIR) has released its final casualty report following the devastation caused by Typhoon Tino, confirming 96 deaths, and 40 individuals still missing, after the termination of the search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) operations on Sunday, November 16.
The data showed that, within the region, the town of Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental was the hardest hit, recording 19 confirmed fatalities and 10 missing persons. It was followed by Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, with 18 confirmed deaths and 3 individuals still missing, while the town of Vallehermoso reported one fatality.
La Castellana recorded 14 confirmed casualties and 14 missing persons, followed by Hinigaran with 10 deaths and Isabela with 8 deaths; four others remain missing in Isabela.
Bago City reported 7 deaths and 4 missing persons, while Binalbagan had 6 fatalities. La Carlota confirmed 4 deaths and 3 missing persons. San Carlos City recorded 3 deaths and 2 missing persons, and Murcia had 2 fatalities. According to previous reports, two bodies found in Murcia were residents of San Carlos City.
Himamaylan, Pontevedra, Ilog, and San Enrique each recorded one fatality.
The reconciled data, provided by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR), was released two days after the SRR units ceased operations, in accordance with the mandate of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Despite the termination of SRR operations, the OCD-NIR made an agreement with the SRR units to conduct the operations on a case-to-case basis. That allows families who are not yet satisfied with the SRR efforts to appeal to the authorities to continue searching.
“The family can request for a continuation if they are not satisfied,” Sermeno said, also raising concerns that not all families can be accommodated after augmented units have already been pulled out.*
