NDRRMC, PNP deny under-reporting Yolanda deaths

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday denied under-reporting the number of fatalities caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda.

"Wala pong katotohanan 'yung sinasabing binabawasan o hindi sinasali 'yung iba. Nag-iingat lang tayo na magkaroon ng... ma-doble ang bilang," NDRRMC spokesperson Maj. Rey Balido said in an interview that aired on GMA News TV's Balitanghali.



Balido made the statement amid speculations that the government was not including bodies that have not yet been identified in the official death toll.

In an interview on GMA News TV's News To Go on Tuesday, forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun also questioned this.

"I don’t know about that pero may weird ako na nabasa na pag unidentified ang body, 'di daw kasama sa count. Ano? When you have a dead body that’s one death. Patay 'yan eh. Bakit di mo sasama sa tally mo?" she said

But in an interview with GMA News Online, PNP Crime Lab deputy director for operations Senior Supt. Emmanuel Aranas said that unidentified bodies are indeed included in the NDRRMC's count, which has risen to 5,500 dead as of Wednesday morning.

Aranas explained that every cadaver recovered is counted, and the tally given to the NDRRMC. Of the 3,550 bodies recovered by the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), only 247 have been identified, but all 3,550 are included in the total tally so far of 5,500.

Aranas said that the police and local government units are working with the NDRRMC on counting the dead, with the local governments having their own count of those that have been identified and the police in charge of those that are still unidentified. The numbers are added up and the total is what appears in the NDRRMC report.

Aranas also noted that tags are attached to unidentified bodies to avoid double-counting.

Slow counting

NDRRMC's Balido admitted that updating the death toll has been slow, to make sure the number of reported casualties is accurate.

He noted that Interior Secretary Mar Roxas has ordered that bodies must be certified by the local governments before they are included in the official tally, also to avoid double-counting.

"Ni-require niya po 'yung mga local chief executive, 'yung mayor na magsumite ng report na duly signed by him and his local health office na nagpapatunay po na ito ang bilang talaga ng mga nasawi sa kanilang lugar," he said.

Carandang quote

In a phone interview with GMA News Online, Fortun explained that she was reacting to Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang's statement that unidentified bodies are not included in the death toll.

According to a Nov. 15 Wall Street Journal report, Carandang said that the government does not count a body until it has been identified. "The higher numbers from the aid agencies are probably the more accurate ones as we expect our figures to rise once the bodies have been positively identified," he said.

Fortun, however, said the system may have changed since then.

The weekend after Yolanda's onslaught, Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, Eastern Visayas police chief, estimated the fatalities at 10,000. Three days later, however, President Aquino contested the number and came up with his own estimate of between 2,000 and 2,500. Soria has since been relieved of duty, although officials said he just needed time off to recover from the tragedy.

As the number of fatalities exceeded initial government estimates, Aquino ordered an investigation into the “extraordinarily high” number of casualties in certain Yolanda-hit areas. — BM, GMA News