Nine Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro landslide victims are given a mass burial on 14 February 2024 at the Mawab Public Cemetery in Mawab, Davao de Oro. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
MAWAB, Davao de Oro (MindaNews / 14 February) – The local government unit (LGU) of Mawab, Davao de Oro offered Wednesday to again provide a mass burial to the 15 unidentified individuals buried by the landslide in the mining village of Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro on February 6.
In an interview with the media, Mawab Mayor Ruperto Gonzaga III said they are willing to help their “brother municipality,” including giving a decent and free burial to the still unidentified landslide victims.
“The unidentified cadavers will be buried free of charge here at the Mawab Public Cemetery to simply give them a peaceful burial, it’s a brother-to-brother companionship [with the Maco LGU],” Gonzaga said in Cebuano.
Mawab, Davao de Oro Mayor Ruperto Gonzaga III delivers a message during the mass burial of the landslide victims in Barangay Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro on 14 February 2024 at the Mawab Public Cemetery in Mawab, Davao de Oro. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
As of 7 p.m. February 14, the landslide claimed at least 85 lives and 32 injured, with 38 still missing, data from the Maco LGU showed.
Gonzaga said that with the permission of Maco Mayor Arthur Carlos Voltaire Rimando, he will contact the head of the Incident Command Post (ICP), Ariel Capoy, to finalize the details of the free burial of the unidentified bodies buried in the Masara landslide.
Mawab is 24.2 kilometers away from Barangay Masara, or about 40 minutes by car.
If the ICP will agree, the 15 unidentified landslide victims will be buried at the public cemetery here on Friday morning, February 16, Gonzaga said.
As part of the process, the cadavers recovered from the landslide are first being taken care of at the ICP for proper profiling through the Management of the Dead and Missing cluster, and with the National Bureau of Investigation for ante mortem data collection.
The cadavers are then sent to two funeral homes – St. Peter Funeral Homes in Montevista, Davao de Oro for Apex Mining and Maria-Socio General Services Inc. (MSGSI) employees; and Cofreros Rosario Funeral Homes in Mawab for community dwellers.
The unidentified cadavers are brought to either funeral homes for possible identification by their relatives.
The Mawab mayor emphasized the need for a mass burial for the 15 unidentified cadavers as soon as possible for the health concerns of residents near the funeral homes.
Ronilo Bautista, Mawab’s Municipal Economic Enterprise officer, said 18 identified landslide victims were scheduled to be given proper burial Wednesday afternoon.
Gonzaga said that only nine have been buried as the relatives of the other victims prefer a later schedule.
Maco Mayor Rimando said the nine other identified cadavers will be buried on Friday, hopefully together with the 15 unidentified victims.
Rimando urged the families with missing members to still go to Maco to help identify the recovered unidentified cadavers through the Incident Command Post.
“However it’s important that they have the data as we are in process of locating and identifying these unidentified cadavers. If someone will come out to find missing bodies, we can retrieve the cadavers and have them identified those,” Rimando said in Cebuano.
Both mayors were present during today’s burial of the nine individuals buried in the Masara landslide namely Nenimel Raganet, April Mae Raganet, Milioy Gecoso, Ronald Lorica Sr., Ronald Lorica Jr., John Rex Lorica, Edwin Canoy, Meroche Baring, and Mica Jane Baring.
Nine landslide victims in Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro are buried on 14 February 2024 at the Mawab Public Cemetery in Mawab, Davao de Oro. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
The landslide in Masara happened amid heavy downpour in the area.
Apex Mining Corp. is operating in the village. However, it claimed that the landslide occurred in an area outside its gold mining operations. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
