Makati team retrieves 17 bodies in Leyte

MANILA, Philippines - Two teams sent by the Makati City government to areas in Leyte, which were badly hit by super typhoon Yolanda, have so far recovered 17 bodies in Barangay 89 Baybay, San Jose town.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said two teams from the Makati Rescue and the Philippine K-9 Search and Rescue Foundation (PH-K9) retrieved six bodies last Sunday and 11 more last Monday.

Binay said the teams will remain in Leyte for as long as necessary to assist the local government units in the search and retrieval operations.

“In these trying times with much devastation around, we could somehow bring some comfort to the survivors by helping them locate their loved ones so that they could be laid to rest and given a decent burial,” he said.

Binay also commended the members of the teams for their exemplary dedication to duty and readiness to respond whenever their help was needed. Previously, the teams and their canine partners had assisted in several rescue and retrieval operations, most recently in Bohol after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake.

The Makati Rescue and PH-K9 teams left for Tacloban in the morning of November 30 through Villamor Air Base on board a Philippine Air Force C-130 plane. They were dispatched to Barangay 89 Baybay, San Jose to provide immediate retrieval services.

Binay said that with the international first responders and rescue teams already returning to their home countries, Makati Rescue and PH-K9 have helped augment the retrieval operations of the remaining rescue teams in the area.

The Makati contingent is composed of 12 personnel from Makati Rescue and four from PH-K9. They brought the veteran search dog “Drena” (a Belgian Malinois), the highly trained “Ash” (a German Shepherd), and several retrieval tools and equipment that include chainsaws, hydraulic spreader and hydraulic cutter.

To date, relief operations at Barangay Poblacion Covered Court have released 32,580 packs since November 23 for Yolanda survivors. The joint operations of Makati and the Office of the Vice President had earlier dispatched relief goods to 15 towns in Leyte, eight in Biliran, and 12 in Samar.

The city government of Makati is also facilitating donations from private individuals and donors for the Yolanda victims.