Grief of Local Priest Over Parishioners Lost in Mudslides

|PIC1|A local priest has spoken of his grief over the devastation and loss of life caused by the mudslides in Southern Leyte province in the Philippines last Friday.

Father Bonito Labrador is the parish priest of the church of St. Augustine in Catmon, which was attended by the people of the small village of Guinsaugon, completely wiped out by the mudslides.

As he choked back tears, Fr Labrador told the Missionary International Service News Agency (Misna), “I love these people”, adding that he was supposed to celebrate Mass for them on the Sunday following the mudslides.

Telling of the bodies of “adults, children and newborns” that had been pulled from the mud, Fr Labrador repeated, “I love these people”.

Many of the bodies were moved to his church in Catmon, just a few kilometres from the scene of the tragedy, including the body of a young man the priest had helped to bring to Christ.

|TOP|Local inhabitants of the villages surrounding the disaster were evacuated over the weekend for fear of new landslides, while several families were taken to the St. Augustine parish where they were cared for by the local priest.

“We sheltered them in our education centre, where we also teach catechism. It is merely a humble bamboo structure,” he said, adding that some trucks had come to take the families to nearby St. Bernard, where some assistance centres were set up in schools, including a local Christian school, and other parishes. Fr Labrador will care for three families who decided not to leave.

According to the priest some NGOs had already arrived on the scene Saturday to help in the rescue efforts as well as in the provision of material and emotional support for the survivors.

|AD|Four days after the disaster and rescue workers refuse to give up hope of finding life within a school packed with 200 staff and children buried under the mud.

Seismic sensors and sound-detection equipment brought in by U.S. and Malaysian forces detected sounds of scratching and a rhythmic tapping, spurring rescuers to keep on digging into the early hours of Tuesday morning.

“To me, that's more than enough reason to smile and be happy," South Leyte Gov. Rosette Lerias said. "The adrenaline is high ... now that we have seen increasing signs of life."

The number of dead could be up to 1,000, with no one found alive since a few hours after the disaster occurred last Friday morning.