Philippine President Arroyo greets soldiers helping with the rescue operation

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo banned all commercial logging in the country on Saturday, as rescuers rushed aid to nearly a million wet and hungry survivors of storms that have left at least 1,100 people dead or missing.

Improving weather on the main island, Luzon, allowed military cargo planes and helicopters to reach the worst-stricken areas of the Pampanga River basin, while navy craft carrying aid headed for the Bicol peninsula and the northeast coast.

Mrs. Arroyo flew by helicopter to the towns of General Nakar, Infanta and Real on Saturday and "ordered the suspension of logging permits all over the country," said Corazon Soliman, the social welfare secretary, who accompanied her.

Officials have blamed logging in the Sierra Madre for the deluge of mud, logs and boulders that buried much of the three towns.

"We are determined to make those responsible for widespread death and destruction to pay the price for their misdeeds, and we shall prosecute them the way we do terrorists, kidnappers, drug traffickers and other heinous criminals," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement.

Mayors of the three towns told her the floods and landslides that followed a storm late Monday left at least 495 people dead and 508 missing, Ms. Soliman said.

Source: Agencies