Despite advice from the Department of Health that there is no compelling health reason for doing so, local officials in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities have begun burying unclaimed and unidentified decomposing bodies in mass graves Monday afternoon.
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Funeral parlors have been overwhelmed and refuse to store and treat any more dead. Cadaver bags are also in short supply. Rotting corpses are thought to spread disease, which the DOH has denied. But dead bodies also emit a nauseating stench.
In an interview, Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said the bodies that were buried in mass graves were those that have not been claimed by relatives as of Monday afternoon.
“Nag-mass burial sa Iligan kaninang hapon, sa Barangay Paitan, nag-mass burial din itong Cagayan de Oro sa Barangay Pamamanhan. Basta ito ‘yung… as soon as wala nang claimants, mass burial na,” he said.
Earlier in the day, DOH spokesman, Dr. Eric Tayag, said mass burials are not advisable, asserting that "decomposing bodies have nil risk contrary to general opinion."
Tayag urged local governments to give families time to retrieve their dead. “Mass burial is not advisable,” he said. “Grieving families should mourn and bury their dead as practiced.”
Death toll nears 700 mark
As of 6 p.m. Monday, 684 have been confirmed dead due to flash floods and landslides caused by the heavy rain brought by Sendong over the weekend — one of the deadliest cyclones that hit the country in 12 years.
Ramos said of the 684 fatalities, 3 so far36 were in Cagayan de Oro, 279 in Iligan City, 17 in Bukidnon, 38 in Negros Oriental, one in Mandaue City, three from Zamboanga del Norte, five from Compostela Valley, and five from Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Ramos said they have “lost count” of the missing, which is believed to be also in hundreds.
“I lost count already. Even the local government here (Cagayan de Oro) doesn’t know exactly how many are missing. We lost count of the missing,” the NDRRMC chief said, adding that they still expect the death toll to increase.
“Normally a body, if not bloated, sinks. But once it takes in water, it floats so this figure (death toll) will rise,” he said. - (KBK/HS, GMA News)
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