'Igme' heads for Taiwan,
leaves 19 dead
Posted: 1:07 AM (Manila Time) | Jul. 02, 2004
By Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau
Inquirer News Service
Weakened
TYPHOON "Igme" (international code-name: "Mindulle") weakened on its way out to Taiwan Thursday, but disaster officials said it left the death toll swelling to at least 19 in northern Luzon.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the release of more funds to provinces that suffered the brunt of the typhoon. Total relief assistance, mostly coming from private donations, has so far reached 1.3 million pesos, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council placed agricultural and infrastructure losses at 353 million pesos.
Cagayanos, who recently celebrated the quadricentennial of the arrival of the miraculous image of the Our Lady of Piat, expressed grief over the death of nine people from flash floods in five towns and the destruction of more than 232 million pesos worth of palay and corn in Cagayan.
Four of the fatalities were identified as Florentino Rebibis and Sioning Corpuz, both of Buguey; Jennifer Eslabra of Alcala; and Juan Taburo of Gattaran town.
The other victims, from Buguey, Gattaran, Pamplona and Baggao towns, had yet to be identified, said Edna Junio, provincial social welfare director.
In Ilocos Sur, Mayor Jesus Bueno Jr. of Santa town said five people were believed killed after the Abra River overflowed at the height of the typhoon.
Since Thursday, Bueno said rescuers had been searching for the bodies of Romeo Baguyo, his wife Clarita and their children Ronald, 13; Romel, 12; and Romeo Jr., 6, all of Barangay Calungbuyan, Santa.
In Ilocos Norte, two more people were reportedly killed while two others were missing. Louie Laynos drowned in Laoag City, while another body was found in San Nicolas town.
The DSWD's head office in Quezon City said Josefina Curameng, of Poblacion 2, Pagudpud, died of a heart attack, while her town-mate, Rodrigo Basilio, drowned.
In Pangasinan, two girls drowned on Wednesday in Barangay Basangay Ballige in Laoac town. Reports said Rachel Gayacan and her cousin Jennifer Cacho, both 12, were catching frogs in a creek when a strong current swept them. The DSWD identified the victims as Rachel Gacayan and Gennefer Bacani.
The number of fatalities in Cordillera rose to four after a man was crushed by a landslide on Wednesday night in Tuba, Benguet.
Earlier, three people were buried in a landslide on Wednesday in Tabuk, Kalinga, (not Balbalan as earlier reported). They were Mary Jane Balisi, Edzel Agapito and Michilyn Molang.
The Office of Civil Defense also reported that nine people from Flora town in Apayao have been missing. Vicente Tomazar, OCD Cordillera director, said rescue workers had reported seeing bodies floating in the swollen Apayao River.
Three people were reported missing, while six others were injured in Benguet.
Landslides
Mamerto Quijon, 30, was rescued from a landslide near the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Baguio City, while workers saved Linda Oide and Marzan Amos at Km 3 in Barangay Pico in La Trinidad, Benguet.
Two other landslide victims, Flora Uyami and Mary Napadawan, were rescued in Hungduan, Ifugao, on Wednesday, while Richard Magalong, 16, survived a car crash in Balbalan, Kalinga.
Igme was still packing center winds of 130 km per hour with gustiness of 160 kph when weathermen tracked it at 3 p.m. yesterday at 140 km north-northweast of Basco, Batanes. It was moving north-northwest at 13 kph.
Signal No. 3 remained hoisted over the Batanes group of islands, while Signal No. 2 remained aloft over the Calayan Islands, Apayao, Abra and the Ilocos provinces.
Isabela, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Ifugao, Benguet, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac and Zambales remained under Signal No. 1.