Itogon residents return favor, aid landslide victims in Natonin town

Residents of Itogon town in Benguet who were hit by a landslide last September are helping in the rescue and retrieval operations in Natonin, Mountain Province, which was struck by an equally deadly landslide early this week.

GMA News' Raffy Tima reported on "Balitanghali" that residents of Itogon have joined the growing number of volunteers for the local government-led rescue and retrieval operations for missing Natonin residents, after a landslide hit a DPWH office last Tuesday during Typhoon Rosita's onslaught.

Itogon residents were quoted as saying they rushed to the landslide site in Natonin to return the favor to Mountain Province residents.

A total of 94 people were killed in the landslide that struck Itogon town last September as Typhoon Ompong cut through northern Luzon. 

Some Natonin residents now are accommodating the relatives of those who perished or are missing in Tuesday's landslide. 

Tragedy in a snap

Ryan Polit-ew, who works as a security guard at the DPWH building buried by the landslide, recalled that there was no time for the victims to call for help as a boulder quickly fell and crushed the DPWH building, and followed by an avalanche of rain-soaked soil that buried the entire structure. 

“Sigaw [na nga] lang po [nagawa nila] eh," Polit-ew said of the tragedy that killed at least eight people, so far.

Engr. Rustom Martinez, a District Engineer for Mt. Province, thanked the pockets of landslides that blocked their way to DPWH office building before the killer one struck. 

A clearing operations team from the DPWH arrived at ground zero only at 4 a.m.  this Friday, after two days of non-stop digging into mud and rubble. 

At least two bodies were recovered in a nearby river, while another one was retrieved in a river one  town away from ground zero, forcing authorities to expand the area of operation to cover other rivers in nearby towns.   —Llanesca T. Panti/LBG, GMA News