By AARON RECUENCO
RESCUE teams continue to dig up and sift through piles of rocks, mud and other debris in the hope of retrieving more cadavers and even get survivors in Itogon, Benguet.
Based on the latest data of the police, the death toll is now at 88 with 64 other missing, most of them in Barangay Ucab in Itogon town where almost a hundred miners were buried alive.
Of the 88, a total of 72 of them are in Cordillera, most are in Itogon, Benguet; 10 in Cagayan Valley region, three from Central Luzon; two in Metro Manila ans one in Ilocos Region.
Sixty of the 64 missing are in Benguet while two each in Ilocos Region and Metro Manila.
As of yesterday afternoon, a total of 12,189 people are still housed in more than 5,000 evacuation centers mostly in Northern Luzon.
The most number of the evacuees are from Central Luzon with 9,585 people due to massive flooding while 2,093 of them are in Ilocos Region and 1,336 in Cordillera.
Chief Supt. Benigno Durana, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that they have already shifted to law and order function in the affected areas.
“We deployed personnel in the evacuated areas and even in the evacuation centers to ensure the safety and security there,” said Durana.
A total of 233 policemen were deployed in evacuation centers while 224 cops have been tasked to conduct regular patrol in vacated communities as a result of landslides and flooding.
“We also have personnel who continuously helping in the search and retrieval and assisting in the relief distribution,” said Durana.
Part of them are two teams from the Special Action Force which are helping in search and retrieval in Itogon town. Most of those assisting in relief distribution are local police.
Durana, on the other hand, said that they are currently assessing the impact of typhoon Ompong on police structures and personnel.
There are still no reports on the damage to police stations and other equipment.
On the other hand, a total of 1,708 policemen and their families were affected by “Ompong” — 1,682 of them are in Ilocos region while the rest are in Cordillera.