At around 10:00
a.m. on 17 February 2006 a massive landslide buried an entire village
in Barangay Guinsa-ugon, in the town of St. Bernard, Southern Leyte
province. The landslide roared down a mountainside, burying around
500 houses and an elementary school packed with around 246 schoolchildren.
The landslide
had been triggered by more than two weeks of continuous heavy rainfall,
estimated to be four times more than the normal recorded rainfall.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs)
also recorded a 2.6 magnitude earthquake in the southwestern portion
of Southern Leyte at around 10:36 a.m.
Based on the
report released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) on 21 February, 15 other barangays were also affected by the
landslide. Four evacuation centers are serving at least 439 families
(around 1,645 persons) while other families are currently staying
with friends and relatives. One of the evacuation centers being used
is a church of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP).
Eighty-one (81) bodies have been recovered from the landslide site,
19 survivors have been rescued while 996 persons are still missing.
According to the
UCCP St. Bernard Task Force, only 9 of the 70 members of UCCP Guinsaugon
are on the survivors’ list, the rest are among those who are feared
to be buried in the mud.
The ongoing search
and rescue operations had been hampered by the heavy mud, however,
search teams identified the location of the school building which
lay beneath 25 to 30 meters of mud.
The National Council
of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) is co-ordinating with the UCCP
local church for emergency response. A team will also be dispatched
to conduct a needs assessment, particularly rehabilitation assistance.
An ACT appeal may be forthcoming.
