No timeline yet to stop search, retrieval ops in Masara tragedy
THREE weeks after the massive landslide tragedy in Barangay Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro, the timeline as to when the search and retrieval operations close has yet to be determined.
This, despite the local government unit of Maco (LGU-Maco) announcing that there is no more chance of finding and rescuing alive persons underneath the 30-foot mound of soil due to the situation and the heavy impact of the landslide.
However, the LGU-Maco said the major goal of the search and retrieval operations now is to retrieve all missing individuals as soon as possible.
“As to the timeline for search and retrieval, we cannot exactly determine when, but hoping na makukuha pa namin yung mga remaining bodies doon. That’s our goal kung pwede lang makuha lahat,” Incident Management Team (IMT) Commander of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) Engineer Ariel Capoy said in a Masara media briefing, Thursday afternoon, February 15.
(As to the timeline for search and retrieval, we cannot exactly determine when, but we are hoping that we will get the remaining bodies there. That’s our goal, to retrieve all dead bodies).
He added that they have yet to update the final plan of the government regarding the implementation of rehabilitation. Geographic locations and the setting of the relocation sites are currently being assessed by the LGU-Maco.
“As to that [rehabilitation], we cannot say the [exact date] since ongoing pa man ang atoang search and retrieval operation but siguro, kung maabot na gyud namo tung mga points nga angayan namo ma-search”, he added.
(As to that [rehabilitation], we cannot say the [exact date] since our search and retrieval operation is still ongoing but maybe, once we have reached the points that should be searched.)
On Tuesday, February 13, Maco Municipal Mayor Arthur Carlos Voltaire Rimando signed an Executive Order (EO) shifting the search and rescue to search and retrieval operations.
As of press time, February 16, MDRRMO-Maco recovered 92 bodies while 36 individuals have been reported missing by the Missing Disaster Management (MDM).