A former resident of Negros Occidental, who is now the commander of the United States 3rd Marine Expedition Force, is helping in the Guinsaugon landslide rescue and providing counseling to enable rescue workers to cope with what he calls a "horrendous" tragedy.

Manuel "Don" Biadog, 49, who is from Talisay City, told the DAILY STAR yesterday that he was among the first 15 US marines who arrived in Guinsaugon village in St. Bernard town, Southern Leyte, on Saturday, a day after the landslide.

Biadog, who also worked with rescue workers in the 9/11 tragedy in New York, said he was chosen to join the US team because he speaks Ilonggo and Cebuano, and can serve as an interpreter.

Biadog said that, while 9/11 tragedy was devastating, what makes the Guinsaugon tragedy "horrendous" is the fact that 200 school children were among those buried beneath the mud.

There were rumors of some of the children still being alive and rescuers have found the school area but no signs of life so far, he said.

They are buried 30 feet below ground zero with mud and boulders from one half of a mountain having covered the village, he said.

Yesterday Biadog was among those who officiated at the mass burial of 37 of the dead found beneath the mud.

We are finding bodies everyday, he said.

There are 500 US soldiers helping in the search on land while the rest are on a ship, he said.

The US troops work in shifts - they work two days and are relieved by others while they rest on the ship, he said.

Even if we find just one person still alive, our efforts amid the heat, rain, humidity and the danger of another landslide would have been worth it, he said.

However, he said, it looks as if all they are finding are bodies.

Biadog, a Protestant pastor, said a US emergency response team at the disaster site composed of ministers of different denominations and Catholic priests are providing counseling to families of the victims as well as helping rescuers, health workers and representatives of non government organizations cope.

We have to help them cope with the fact that what they see here one day is what will bother them in their sleep, he said.

Biadog, the son of Emiliana and Manuel Biadog Sr. of Negros Occidental, has had a lot of experience dealing with people coping with dangerous work, having been on the site during the 9-11 rescue work in New York and being the multi-nation force chaplain in Iraq from 2004 to 2005.

Another Negrense US Marine in Guinsaugon is a certain Yabut tasked with stress debriefing work, Edyll Tan of the Philippine National Red Cross in Bacolod said.

Members of a PNRC team from Negros -- Jose Antonio Mabayag, Gefegliene Geralao, Hnebin Baylon, Enrique Toda Jr. and Eddie Silvano -- are still in Guinsaugon helping in the search effort.

Also with them is the head of PNRC Negros Bacolod Chapter Geevy Gregorio, who told the DAILY STAR that, as of 8 p.m. yesterday, the missing were 1,027, dead recovered 92, and 11 body parts, two died at hospitals, while 2,883 remained at evacuation centers.*CPG

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