15 bodies found in Itogon landslide —mayor

Two more bodies have been recovered from the site of the deadly landslide in Itogon, Benguet on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 15.

According to a report by Mariz Umali on Balitanghali, the two bodies were placed on stretchers and pulled up from the site.

The Department of Health is planning to bring the necessary materials to clean the bodies.

Rescuers are on their third day of digging through the landslide, which buried makeshift shelters that housed small scale miners and their families.

Rescuers on Monday, September 17, 2018, take part in a nighttime search for miners buried at the rubble of a bunkhouse after a landslide caused by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut) at a small-scale mining camp in Itogon, Benguet on September 15, 2018. Reuters/Erik De Castro

In an interview on ANC, Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said the victims had refused to evacuated from their temporary homes.

"Sinabi namin sa kanila noong preemptive evacuation na hindi tama ito. Pinilit nila na okay lang sila doon. Pinilit ng kapulisan natin na dalhin sila pero pumalag po sila," he said.

The mayor questioned how these small scale miners were allowed to mine in the abandoned tunnels, as there was a Benguet Corporation security guard stationed there and they did not have permits.

He added that he had issued a stoppage order against the miners even before the deadly landslide.

"I issued a stoppage order against these people before this event happened but hindi po nila ako pinaniwalaan, Wala akong kapangyarihan na patigilin sila. Ang may kapangyarihan po diyan ang DENR," he said.

59 missing

Palangdan told reporters Tuesday that the 15 recovered from the bunkhouse in Barangay Ucab was separate from the 30 recovered in other barangays in the municipality.

He said 59 more remain missing from the landslide, and that rescuers remain "inspired to continue retrieval operations" as three survivors were found in the tunnel adjacent to the bunkhouse buried by the landslide.

"Nung Sunday, may na-retrieve tayo na isa, dalawa, or tatlo pala na buhay, pero hindi sa building nakuha, sa tunnel mismo. Kasi 'yung building na 'yun katabi 'yung portal ng tunnel nila," Palangdan said. "Tumakbo siguro 'yung tatlo dun sa loob ng tunnel. Du'n nila na-recover."

Some of the missing victims were stuck in a shanty built next to the bunkhouse.

Palangdan said a law is needed to compel residents to comply with forced evacuation so there won't be a repeat of what happened with the small scale miners in Barangay Ucab.

"Talagang kinakaladkad, ayaw," he said. "So we need a legislation in the Congress that kung pupuwede posasan sana... Parang forced, you will do, but they can file against you for human rights violation."

The Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) reported that as of Monday midnight, 54 people perished in CAR due to Ompong and 32 others were found injured.

Ompong had caused 119 landslides/rock slides and 33 flooding incidents in CAR and displaced 10,404 families (38,864 persons) in Abra, Benguet, Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mt Province and Baguio City. —Jessica Bartolome and Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News