The body of missing tourist guide Rodrick Malecdan has been found in Victoria Cave in Sagada, Mountain Province. According to the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Mountain Province, divers from the Philippine Navy have located the body under water, reportedly trapped between rocks inside the cave.
The cave has been temporarily closed to the public to give way to search and recovery operations. Over the weekend, Malecdan went missing after he and a group of 6 friends entered Victoria Cave on July 16. Heavy rains caused flooding in the cave, endangering the group. Five members of the group were successfully rescued after one member reported the incident to the authorities.
According to the DRRMO, the group entered the cave on July 16, between 9:30 to 10:00 a.m. Denver Giacao who was part of the group said that the water inside the cave started rising rapidly while they were inside. This trapped 6 of the explorers: Malecdan, Era Killip, Andres Inso, Lewis Bangcawayan, Serafino Dao-ines and Alladin Dangkiw.
Search And Rescue Difficult
An Inquirer report indicated that the caves were temporarily closed to give way to further search and recovery operations. Sagada Tourism Officer Robert Pangod also told the Inquirer that the flooding in the cave has not subsided, making the search more difficult.
The DRRMO report also gives additional details of the incident. After Giacao reported the incident before 1 p.m. Sunday, rescuers were able to help 3 members out of the cave by 2:00 p.m. These were Killip, Inso and Bangcawayan. Two others, Dao-ines and Dangkiw, were rescued at 4:25 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively. Operations for search and recovery stopped at 7:50 p.m. because the rescuers could no longer see through the murky water.
Six members of the group were said to be local guides, including Malecdan, according to Sagada Mayor James Pooten. On the second day of search and recovery, responders were still unable to find the missing guide, with the operations halting at 6:00 p.m.
Cave Divers Needed
Local DRRM officer Edward Chumawar, Jr. also cited that they have reported the incident to the Regional Office of the Office of Civil Defense. He hopes that the rescue team will be augmented with scuba divers to continue the search. Local responders in the province do not have the training for a specialized rescue such as this.
Their request was granted, and a group of Philippine Navy divers were sent to help the operations. The divers and their rescue equipment arrived on the afternoon of July 18.