Military casualties due to Typhoon Pablo confirmed

From the Philippine Information Agency (Dec 5): Military casualties due to Typhoon Pablo confirmed

The military confirmed losing several personnel in a flash flood which washed away a temporary detachment in Barangay Andap, New Bataan, Compostela Valley as Typhoon Pablo swept through the province Tuesday morning. Brig. General Yerson Depayso, deputy commander of the 10th Infantry Division in his briefing to Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas at the Police Regional Office XI prior the visit to disaster-stricken areas, said the soldiers were deployed a night before for disaster rescue operation. He said that as of the time of his report, one soldier was confirmed dead while nine others were unaccounted for. Depayso said the military is checking on the report that twenty soldiers drowned in the flash flood. “There are still many victims who are unaccounted for in New Bataan, because as we speak, we haven’t crossed yet the Barangay Andap River which is still swelling,” he said. Depayso said more soldiers under the 10th ID are sent to the area to augment the number of troops earlier deployed to conduct search and rescue operations. He said members of the Charlie Company aside from the missing nine others are all accounted for. Depayso said the 66th Infantry Battalion headquarters located in New Bataan Proper was a total wreck but no one was reported injured.

Lt. Colonel Lyndon Paniza identified the lone fatality as Staff Sergeant Olivares of the Charlie Company, 66th IB.  He said that as of 10am Wednesday, four out of the nine missing soldiers are all accounted for with five still being the subject of the search and rescue effort. Paniza said many of the soldiers sustained minor injuries. “An Army truck was also washed away in the debris of mud,” he said. He said the towns of Boston, Cateel and Baganga are isolated only from Mati City in Davao Oriental via Caraga, but accessible by passing Monkayo, Compostela Valley and Lingig, Surigao del Sur. Paniza said Army units in the affected provinces shifted to tactical radio communications when the services of telecommunication companies bogged down amid the storm.....

http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=2381354693718