Search Ongoing for Missing Boy Swept Away by Bukidnon Floods

VALENCIA CITY, Bukidnon — Search and retrieval operations continued Wednesday for a six-year-old boy who remained missing after he and his older brother were swept away by raging floodwaters while crossing a spillway with their father on a motorcycle. The body of the elder sibling, 12, was recovered Tuesday morning after it was found entangled in large tree debris along the Katipunan River in Sitio Sadiri, Barangay Dagat-Kidavao in this city. June Ray Valero, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) chief, said the incident happened while the family was crossing the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) spillway near the boundary of Barangay Dagat-Kidavao in Valencia City and Barangay Lumintao in Quezon town at around 4 p.m. Monday when the motorcycle was overwhelmed by strong floodwaters. The strong current swept them away, he said. The father, a resident of Barangay Little Baguio in San Fernando, Bukidnon, survived after nearby residents threw ropes into the floodwaters and rescued him. The family was reportedly on their way to visit the children’s grandmother in Barangay Lumintao. Rescuers from the DRRM offices of Valencia City and Quezon town, together with responders from Barangays Dagat-Kidavao, Catumbalon (Valencia City) and Paitan (Quezon), continued searching the Maapag and Kulaman rivers for the missing child. Although water levels have subsided, authorities said the search will continue until the boy is found. Meanwhile, heavy equipment was deployed to clear the old NIA bridge crossing in Barangay Catumbalon, Valencia City after floodwaters left behind huge logs, debris, and vegetation that clogged the bridge following days of moderate to heavy rains enhanced by the southwest monsoon.