08/05/13–Though the material assistance cannot help bring back the lives of his two siblings, Arnel Kaluuyan, one of the elder siblings of Agustin, 12 and Ayen, 6, who both perished in the landslide that occurred along the coastal barangay  of Limpapa, this city last Saturday, is still thankful for the assistance provided to them.

A team from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 9 visited some west coast areas to assess damages caused by continuous rain.  Incidences of flashflood in Patalon and Labuan were noted as well as landslides were noted particularly in Limpapa of which the Kaluuyan house was one of the affected.

Relief packs were immediately dispatched to these areas and financial assistance in the amount of Twenty Thousand Pesos was handed to Mrs. Kaluuyan. City Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar through the local Social Welfare Office also gave P12,000 for burial assistance while the Congressional District Office handed also some amount to cover other expenses. Other psychosocial interventions are also being planned out for the family members to help them deal with the present difficulties.

As relayed by neighbors , the avalanche of debris happened around 7 am, just right after Mrs. Kaluuyan left her two children to attend to her work as a laundrywoman.   It was only after 4 hours that the bodies were extracted from the mound of dirt. ###(nzb)