200 bodies, caskets float in Zambales

Original Report

200 bodies, caskets float in Zambales
By FRANCO G. REGALA, DEXTER SEE and FREDDIE LAZARO
October 7, 2009, 5:57pm

More than two hundred cadavers and caskets were found scattered and floating in flooded areas in and around the Botolan Municipal Cemetery in Zambales, it was learned Wednesday.

Atty. Noel Ferrer, Zambales, provincial lawyer, told Manila Bulletin that the shocking sight was discovered in the badly damaged cemetery in Barangay Paco and other flooded areas in Botolan.

Ferrer disclosed that large part of the cemetery in Barangay Paco was reportedly destroyed by rampaging mudslide and flashfloods at the height of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” and Typhoon “Pepeng” last Monday.

Ferrer said that Governor Amor Deloso has already instructed the Zambales Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDDC) to search and recover the hundreds of missing bodies at the seashore and other areas in the flood-stricken town.

The Governor also ordered the provincial engineers to immediately repair and rehabilitate the dilapidated cemetery which is still flooded.

In an interview with Barangay Chairman Cesar Raquidan, he said that residents of Botolan and nearby towns are now afraid of eating fish, fearing that they might have eaten some of the floating bodies.

Botolan local officials and some residents are now trying to retrieve the bodies of relatives so they can transfer them to safer cemeteries.

Linda Dayo broke into tears when an ABS-CBN news team interviewed her, relating that she has yet to find the bodies of her two siblings who were buried in the cemetery.

Botolan Mayor Roger Yap said flooding in the municipality remains a problem after one kilometer of the Bucao River dike was destroyed by flashfloods.

Meanwhile, damage to infrastructure and agriculture in the Cordilleras is now over P300 million.

Damage to infrastructure alone, according to Engr. Roy Manao, regional director of the Department of Public works and Highways (DPWH) in the Cordillera, is now over R200 million.

In Ilocos Sur, damage to property is now worth R226.2 million. A total of 25,999 families were affected by Typhoon “Pepeng”.

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