(YES 100,000 PLUS WILL DIE)-“We are not looters, what we were looking for is food,” one desperate man said as he searched the remains of a food warehouse in the fishing village of Magallan on the hard-hit island of Leyte.
Some eight soldiers in the back of a military truck appeared to ignore residents clambering out of the rubble carrying canned food, bags of rice and bottles of water. And in a nearby checkpoint, soldiers waved through residents carrying bags of rice.
While the government deployed the military after reports of looting, some officials seemed to be taking a tolerant view toward those taking food.
The mayor of Tacloban, a city of some 220,000 flattened by 235 mph winds and tsunami-like storm surges, said it did not surprise him that desperation had sparked violence.
Five days after a typhoon struck the Philippines, causing widespread destruction and a massive death toll, the recovery efforts in the hardest-hit cities continue.
“You have to understand that people here show … some violent actions because they're hungry, because they're thirsty,” Mayor Alfred Romualdez said. “It's not because they want to harm anybody.”
Most of Tacloban's stores remained closed and malls and shops have been stripped of food and water.
Desperate survivors had been breaking into fast-food shops and destroying ATM machines throughout the disaster zone, according to Philippine broadcaster GMA News.
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