Del Rosario denies Yolanda casualties in 2013 were 'downgraded'

Former National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) executive director and incumbent Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario on Thursday denied that the death toll due to Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 has been downgraded.

"I can say it straight to anyone's eyes there was no instruction to downgrade the number of deaths. If I remember it right, it's about 7,500 and this is based on the validation on the ground by the LGUs," Del Rosario told the Commission on Appointments.

"It's accurate in as far as we are concerned. There was no instruction to downgrade the number of casualties," he added.

According to the report of the NDRRMC, a total of 6,300 individuals died, 28,688 were injured, and 1,062 were missing. Most of them were from Eastern Visayas.

Representative Florencio "Bem" Noel, however, was not convinced of the figures.

"Taga-doon po ako. It's definitely not less than 10,000," he said.

Typhoon Yolanda battered several regions in the country in November 2013.

In terms of number of people killed, Yolanda outranked 1993's Typhoon Uring which claimed 5,101 lives in the country, according to the NDRRMC.

The CA has yet to decide in plenary about Del Rosario's confirmation as Secretary of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.—AOL, GMA News