Philippine president visits mudslide-ravaged province

Dec 5, 2006, 11:36 GMT

Manila - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday visited an eastern province ravaged by mudslides, which were estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people and left more than 1 million people homeless.

Arroyo consoled with relatives of grieving victims as she ordered stepped-up recovery efforts for the hundreds of missing swept away by the mudslides that buried villages at the foot of Mayon Volcano in Albay province, 330 kilometres south of Manila.

'The search for victims must continue as we tend to the sick and hungry in the evacuation centres,' she said. 'We must now also push on the search for permanent solutions bearing upon the root cause of these grave calamities.'

Arroyo has ordered the immediate release of one billion pesos (20 million dollars) for the disaster areas and renewed her vow to speed up the government's hazard-mapping programme.

The effort to identify various naturally hazardous areas in the country was first presented to the public by Arroyo in February, after a mountain collapsed into a village in the eastern province of Leyte, burying about 1,000 people.

'Government at all levels must cooperate and consolidate resources to bear upon this tragedy,' Arroyo said.

'Local officials and other concerned agencies must stop the finger-pointing and bring all efforts to bear upon the alleviation of suffering and misery among the victims,' she added.

Arroyo also thanked international donors for providing relief and aid to the more than 1 million people adversely affected by the typhoon.

'As the sympathy and humanitarian contributions of the world are focused on this tragedy, we extol the theme of a caring and sharing community that lives in ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) and beyond, bringing aid and comfort to those mostly in need,' she added.

The Mayon tragedy was triggered by heavy rains brought by typhoon Durian, which slammed the Philippines Thursday with maximum sustained winds of up to 190 kilometres south of Manila.

The National Disaster Coordinating Centre (NDCC) said it had confirmed 467 dead in the mudslides in Albay, and listed a further 695 people as missing.

Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of Red Cross, said the actual death toll could be more than 1,000.

Durian also killed 59 people in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro and Marinduque, the NDCC said.

Mass burials have been conducted in Legazpi City and the nearby towns of Daraga and Guinobatan, where many were still reported missing.