2 bodies recovered in daring rescue ops

By Francis B. Degay

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- The bodies of one Julius Khita of Barangay Talubin here and a certain Marlon Rongan of Anabel, Sadanga town, were found by rescue volunteers in separate places along the Chico River on Oct. 14 and 17 respectively.

Afternoon of Oct. 10 while Typhoon “Pepeng” was ending its downpour, Khita was washed away by strong current while fishing with peers at the Talubin River.

The succeeding days, volunteers Bontoc and Sadanga including the police forces of Bontoc station led by Chief Insp. Julio Lizardo and the regional mobile group based in Mount Polis headed by Senior Insp. Geron Managtag conducted rescue operations from the banks of Talubin River down to Chico River at Tabuk City in Kalinga.

The following day, Talubin kagawad Miguel Toryaden and a certain Zaldy Ngeteg of Talubin were swallowed by strong water current while assisting in the rescue operations of Khita at the converging zone of Talubin and Chico rivers at Barangay Tocucan in this capital town.

Toryaden was saved and brought the same day to the Bontoc General Hospital while Ngeteg was not retrieved.

On Oct. 14, while the bodies of Khita and Ngeteg were the subject of search one Marlon Rongan, a volunteer from Anabel, met the same fate at Anabel.

According to rescuers, Rongan might have been tired and he was not able to fight back the current as he has done the previous days.

The cadavers of Khita were retrieved at Sitio Oy-owayen, Sadanga while Rongan was recovered at Ambato, Tinglayan.

Ngeteg is still missing and the subject of search as of press time.

When Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey was informed of the incidents, he immediately wrote a letter to Tabuk City mayor Camilo Lammawin and talked with Tinglayan, Kalinga mayor Johnny Mayamaya on Oct. 12 for their assistance in giving information on any floating cadaver that might be seen and safety of volunteers in their areas of responsibility.

The correspondence was hand carried by Bontoc town council member Eusebio Kabluyen who led the rescue activity in Tabuk.

According to Abdon Manuit, a driver of Bontoc local government who went with the rescue volunteers to Tinglayan, Maymaya gave support to the operation by providing snacks and meals, transportation facilities and providing police and civilian guides to Ambato where usually drowned persons from the upper stream are usually retrieved.

A portion of the Chico River at Ambato has a whirlpool which is perceived to hold floating objects for a long time.

Insp. Jimmy Macwes of the regional mobile group, who is also a swimmer, told this writer that the rescue operation was difficult due to very strong current of the Chico River.