Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday visited landslide-hit St. Bernard town of Southern Leyte and promised to give landslide victims quick access to relief including easy loans.

"I think it is important that victims avail themselves of loans," Arroyo said, and she ordered the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System to extend emergency loans to victims of the landslide.

Arroyo also instructed government agencies to make a long-term rehabilitation plan for the province.
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Arroyo said geologists must work with the Southern Leyte governor to locate the Guinsaugon Elementary School, where 246 pupils and seven teachers are trapped under 10-meter-deep mud and boulders. She also said landslide-prone areas must be immediately inspected to warn residents against any looming disaster.

Authorities on Wednesday said 107 bodies had been recovered in Guinsaugon, and the search efforts of multinational rescuers on the ground zero of last Friday's massive landslide would continue.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2006)