3 children killed in Southern Leyte landslide

(Updated 7:07 p.m.) Three children were killed Sunday after a landslide caused by heavy rains buried two houses in St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte, a military official reported. Lt. Col. Noel Vestuir, spokesman of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, identified the fatalities as Fatima Escairal, 5, and her one-year-old brother Rodel; and three-year-old Jordan Laguipon. Vestuir said the parents of the Escairal siblings were injured and recuperating at a hospital. The landslide occurred around 1:30 p.m. at the village of Bulod-bulod, burying the houses and damaging two others, Vestuir said. Vestuir said several other small landslides were recorded, blocking some roads that were later cleared by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). St. Bernard town became prominent in February 2006 when several of its barangays were buried by massive landslides.
On Feb. 17, 2006, a landslide hit Guinsaugon village also in St. Bernard, killing more than 1,000 people. Office of Civil Defense administrator Benito Ramos said six barangays, including Bulod-Bulod, were affected by the rains caused by the cold front. He said a total of 910 persons have been evacuated to higher grounds. “As of now, the situation has improved but the cold front went down to Northern Mindanao, affecting Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, Dinagat island and Siargao," said Ramos. Alert in other areas Meanwhile, Ramos said they have alerted disaster management and local officials in other areas of Eastern Visayas and Northeast Mindanao to prepare for the rains. He said these include Southern Leyte, Eastern and Western Samar, and Surigao del Norte in Mindanao, where he said rains had been heavy since last weekend. "Naalerto natin ang regional director ng CARAGA (We have alerted the regional director of CARAGA)," he said. Ramos said illegal logging in the Eastern Visayas area should have been contained because of the Guinsaugon landslide in 2006. Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the heavy rains in Eastern Visayas may continue until at least Wednesday. "Inaasahan natin yung pag-ulan hanggang Wednesday pa (We expect the rains to continue until Wednesday)," PAGASA operations head Nathaniel Servando said in an interview on dwIZ radio. He said this was due to the tail-end of a cold front moving south, but said this may move north again by Thursday. — RSJ, GMANews.TV