Philippine leader blames deforestation for killer mudslide

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is blaming years of deforestation for a deadly mudslide that buried a mountainside community amid last week’s torrential rains set off by a storm that has left more than 130 people dead across the country. The president said he noticed during an aerial inspection of the widespread damage wrought by Tropical Storm Nalgae in southern Maguindanao province, the president said he pointed out to the provincial governor how the mudslides cascaded on denuded slopes of Mount Minandar. He asked officials to undertake tree-planting as a long-term solution to such calamities. The storm’s vast rain clouds swamped a wide swath of the Philippine archipelago, lashing about 2.4 million people and leaving at least 132 people dead.