Villagers refused advice to flee, police say
Zambale said he saw about 15 villagers outside the chapel and bunkhouses. “Some were smiling and there were some who were just quiet. Some were listening to us,” he said.
Police photographs obtained by the AP showed the officers in hard hats and light green raincoats talking with the villagers outside of what appears to be the concrete chapel and nearby bunkhouse, with piles of sandbags nearby. Part of the mountain slope, covered in green foliage, can be seen behind the buildings.
Zambale, who has battled insurgents and criminals for eight years, said he had a bad feeling about the clearing where the buildings stood near a river, surrounded by tall mountains.
Some villagers heeded the warnings and left before the typhoon struck. “But many were left behind,” Zambale said.
Rescuers have recovered 14 bodies from the avalanche and at least 58 other people remain missing, he said.
Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said Monday it was unlikely any of the missing are still alive, although rescuers continued to search.
Regional police commander Rolando Nana said a special police unit scanned the landslidehit area with radar that can de- tect heart beats, but found no sign of life. As more than 300 rescuers, including police and soldiers, used shovels and picks to search for the missing, Zambale said he still remembers the faces of the villagers he tried to convince to flee.
“I really feel sad, I cannot describe the emotion,” he said. “It’s not only the people who don’t listen. They have children, wives, elderly parents who will all suffer.”
The storm has refocused attention on a persistent dilemma: What to do about the large number of poor who live and work on or near steep mountains, volcanoes, earthquake faults and storm-vulnerable coastlines out of desperation?
“Poverty should not be a hindrance for people not to know, and for them not to act,” said Renato Solidum, a senior government official who has done extensive studies on natural disasters and ways to minimize risks.
While the Philippines has made headway in mapping natural hazards, information about dangers in specific areas could be made more accessible, Solidum said, citing a proposed project called “Hazard Hunter,” which informs residents about the natural perils in their community on their cellphones.