Lacson: Haiyan victims all buried by Sunday

Nearly two months since Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) devastated the Visayas, rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson said burial of remaining bodies started Thursday, January 2, and is expected to be finished before Sunday. Lacson said the 1,400 figure is not accurate. Asked how many bodies the government counts as unburied, Lacson said, “As of this morning, the total bagged [cadavers] are 600 and total on the ground is 200.” The world’s most powerful typhoon killed 6,166, based on the government’s official death count as of Friday, 6 am. The rush to bury the bodies came as President Benigno Aquino signed a P14.6-billion supplemental budget for disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction programs. This is in addition to the calamity funds approved in the P2.265-trillion budget for 2014. The amount will come from lawmakers’ remaining pork barrel for 2013, which effectively turned into savings after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional.

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