Help Sendong victims,
guv, bishop appealing
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday appealed for prayers and donations in cash and kind for the victims of Tropical Storm Sendong in Negros Oriental and Mindanao.

The Red Cross yesterday raised the death toll from Sendong to more than 700 as ravaged cities prepared for mass burials of unclaimed bodies.

The Red Cross set the death toll at 713, while the government's disaster council put the figure at 684.

The Bacolod City government yesterday launched a relief assistance program called “Bacolod Cares” for the victims of Typhoon Sendong, to be spearheaded by the Lions Club of Negros Occidental.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said this will not be confined to the Lions Club alone, but they are inviting other organizations and other sectors so they could maximize their efforts.

Leonardia said that although this is a joint effort, they will see to it that in terms of income and expenses, Commission on Audit rules and procedures will be followed and will not intervene in the operation of the private sector.

A German national was found dead yesterday at his residence in Bago City, Negros Occidental, with multiple stab wounds and injuries in the different parts of his body, police said.

The victim identified as Herman Knitz, 72, succumbed to at least eight stab wounds, and injuries in the head, believed to have been caused by a hard object, Supt. Simeon Gane, Bago police chief, said.

Initial police investigations showed no forced entry to the house of the victim at Palanca Subdivision in Brgy. Poblacion, Bago City, and no valuable items were missing, except the key to his vault and his wallet.