Where will survivors go?

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Survivors scrambled for plane seats to leave this city, but the next question for government is: where will they go?

Military officers said C130 cargo planes of the Philippine and US armed forces, as well as commercial planes, have managed to transport hundreds of residents out of the city. There are long lines at the airport, but the military is recommending that residents should also take the two Navy ships at the city port. The Navy offers free food during the travel.

The airplane is the preferred option of survivors, however, due to the short travel time to Cebu. The Navy ship takes one-and-a-half-days to reach Cebu City, according to Lt Commander Mark Enriquez of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command.

But Enriquez said the bigger challenge now is looking for areas where survivors will be temporarily brought. Earlier on Wednesday, November 13, some of the survivors who arrived in Cebu City were put on a coaster to Tinago gymnasium in Barangay Tinago, Cebu City.

Five days after Yolanda ripped apart entire coastal communities, the situation in Tacloban was becoming ever more dire with essential supplies low and increasingly desperate survivors jostling at the airport.

“Everyone is panicking,” Captain Emily Chang, a navy doctor, told Agence France-Presse.

“They say there is no food, no water. They want to get out of here,” she added, saying doctors at the airport had run out of medicine, including antibiotics.

“We are examining everyone but there’s little we can do until more medical supplies arrive.”

The United Nations estimates 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban. But President Benigno Aquino III said there are only more than 2,000 to 2,500 dead. (READ: Aquino: Death toll at 2,000-2,500)

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has issued a memorandum circular, barring private jets from using the airport in Tacloban City.

CAAP deputy director general Capt. John Andrews said that starting Wednesday, November 13, only flights carrying relief goods and equipment, military flights and commercial flights using turboprop planes will be allowed to land at the airport.

“It’s negative for private jets,” Andrews told Rappler in a text message when asked to confirm the order.

Andrews issued the memorandum, arguing that even President Benigno Aquino III boarded a PAL Express Q400 flight, not a private jet, when he inspected airports severely damaged by Yolanda Sunday.

All airports ordered closed by CAAP during the onslaught of Yolanda over the weekend already resumed operations. – with reports from Patricia Evangelista in Tacloban City and Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com