Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon has relieved a maintenance chief following reports of delayed response to calamities, as heavy rains continued to trigger flooding across Metro Manila and several other parts of Luzon.

In an Aug. 29 memorandum, Dizon ordered engineer Loreto Balena Jr. relieved as maintenance chief of the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa District Engineering Office.

Dizon cited Balena’s ‘unsatisfactory performance, lack of urgency, and delayed response to calamities’ as grounds for his removal.

Balena was directed to complete an inventory of his office’s properties, finish and sign pending documents and deliverables, and turn over official records and other papers.

Sen. JV Ejercito, meanwhile, urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to complete unfinished flood control projects before starting new ones, saying incomplete infrastructure could worsen the country’s vulnerability to flooding.

‘For practical reasons, we need to close the gaps so that mitigating or solving flood control would be effective,’ Ejercito, chair of the Senate finance committee, told DZBB on Sunday.

‘Close the gaps, complete the unfinished flood control projects. No new projects. Finish what needs to be finished,’ he added.Ejercito’s call came amid renewed scrutiny of the government’s multibillion-peso flood control program and concerns over unfinished or poorly implemented projects.

He also pushed for the proposed Masterplan for Infrastructure National Development, which he said would provide a long-term framework for infrastructure planning that would survive changes in administrations.

The proposed measure would integrate flood control with transportation, housing, water, energy, utilities and other major infrastructure, rather than allowing projects to be planned and implemented separately.

Ejercito said the government should prioritize the country’s 10 most flood-prone areas and use a 30- to 50-year framework to guide major infrastructure investments.

He said long-term planning could also strengthen accountability by giving projects clear objectives, timelines, and costs, and help prevent corruption by ensuring that projects form part of a coherent national plan.

Rain volume

The warnings came as Metro Manila was placed under a red rainfall warning by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the metropolis had 186 millimeters of rain in 23 hours from 9 a.m. on Saturday to 8 a.m. on Sunday, based on data from the Pagasa Science Garden Station in Quezon City. A millimeter of rain amounts to a liter of water on a flat area.

Serious flooding remained possible in low-lying and flood-prone areas.

The MMDA said it was deploying mobile pumps, clearing clogged drains and waterways, and dredging and removing debris and garbage from drainage inlets as part of its flood mitigation efforts.

Classrooms damaged

The prolonged rains have also taken a toll on schools.

The Department of Education said 9,869 classrooms had been damaged by the combined effects of the ‘habagat’ (southwest monsoon) and tropical cyclones Luis, Maymay, Neneng, and Obet.

Of the total, 5,731 classrooms sustained minor damage, 2,055 suffered major damage, and 2,083 were totally damaged, according to the latest DepEd situation report as of 8 a.m. Sunday.

Central Luzon had the highest number of affected classrooms and schools, with 3,732, followed by Region I with 2,746 and the Cordillera Administrative Region with 1,266.

DepEd estimated that P280 million would be needed for minor repairs, P1 billion for major repairs, and P5.2 billion for reconstruction.

Cordillera technocrats are pushing to revive a regional governing body for the preservation of the country’s rice terraces, as calls grow for a comprehensive master plan to protect the World Heritage-listed landscape from abandonment, climate change and deteriorating infrastructure.

The Cordillera Regional Development Council is studying a draft resolution urging President Marcos to establish a Cordillera Rice Terraces Commission, which would oversee the conservation of rice terraces across the region.

The proposed commission would replace the Ifugao Rice Terraces Commission, which was created in 1994 to oversee the preservation and restoration of the terraces but was abolished in 1999. Its responsibilities were later transferred to the Banaue Rice Terraces Task Force, which was dissolved in 2002, leaving the provincial government of Ifugao to take the lead in conservation efforts.

The proposed body would also cover rice terraces outside Ifugao, including those in Mountain Province.

The Batad, Bangaan, Mayoyao, Hungduan and Nagacadan rice terraces in Ifugao were collectively inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage List in 1995.

The terraces remain notable for their indigenous engineering, in which water collected from forested areas at the upper portions of the mountains is channeled through traditional irrigation systems to successive rice paddies, locally called ‘payao.’

‘The establishment of the Cordillera Rice Terraces Commission is crucial for stopping the deterioration of the terraces,’ the draft resolution says. It adds that the body could help revitalize indigenous knowledge and sustainable farming practices while enabling younger generations to continue traditional agriculture.

The proposal comes as urban planner and architect Felino Palafox recently pitched to Malacañang a comprehensive master plan for Banaue and other municipalities where the Ifugao rice terraces are located.

During a meeting with Marcos last week, Palafox offered to prepare a Comprehensive Urban, Environmental, Infrastructure, and Economic Development Master Plan for Banaue and the Rice Terraces Municipalities of Ifugao.

His proposal goes beyond repairing damaged terrace walls and irrigation systems, focusing also on the terraces’ role in the local economy and the engineering interventions needed to preserve them.

It argues that the terraces are deteriorating partly because the communities maintaining them can no longer earn enough from farming to sustain their livelihoods.

Palafox estimated that 25 percent to 35 percent of the terraces have been abandoned or irreversibly damaged, citing population decline and environmental pressures, including extreme weather that has damaged the ancient stone and earthen terrace walls.

The proposal, cosigned by the Ifugao provincial government and Polish entrepreneur Maciej Podhajski, also cited low farm incomes as a reason residents leave the province, threatening the workforce needed to maintain the terraces.

Palafox placed the typical farmer’s annual income at about P50,000, which he described as insufficient to sustain a livelihood.

Ifugao officials have been reviewing the proposal and have yet to make their comments public.

Protecting culture

Former Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. said any master plan must address the needs of the communities that continue to maintain the terraces and grow heirloom rice.

‘We must protect and nurture the watershed,’ Baguilat said.

He said the government should subsidize farmers and provide livelihood support, rehabilitate irrigation systems and strengthen programs that preserve indigenous knowledge.

Ifugao communities follow a traditional rice culture that governs planting schedules and the maintenance of the terraces.

Baguilat also called for mechanisms that would allow farmers and local communities to benefit from tourism revenues generated by the terraces.

Often described as 2,000 years old, the Ifugao terraces have been the subject of archaeological research suggesting that some of the structures may have been built or significantly expanded only several hundred years ago, possibly in response to pressures brought by Spanish expansion into the Cordillera.

The terraces remain a living agricultural landscape, sustained not only by stone and earth structures but also by indigenous knowledge and communal practices passed down through generations.

Ifugao had a population of 208,668, according to the latest available census data. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that in 2024, the province was the second-fastest growing economy in the Cordillera, accounting for 7.5 percent of the region’s gross domestic product, estimated at P28.24 billion.

The proposed commission and master plan are aimed at addressing the intertwined challenges of conservation, livelihood, tourism and climate resilience-while keeping the terraces a living part of Ifugao culture rather than simply preserving them as a heritage site.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday called on Filipinos to not just remember the nation’s heroes but also embody their courage and keep the flame of patriotism alive.

In his message in commemoration of National Heroes’ Day, Marcos said the public must renew their ‘solemn duty’ to carry forward the nation for which the heroes fought and sacrificed.

‘Our forebears won our freedom, defended our dignity, and laid the foundations of the Republic we cherish,’ he said.

‘We honor them best by embodying their courage, keeping the flame of patriotism alive, and becoming the citizens our country needs,’ the president said.

He noted that the heroes’ spirit lives on those who choose to ‘serve, care and contribute to a cause greater than oneself.’

These can be seen in soldiers and first responders who risk their lives to keep everyone safe, Marcos said.

‘We recognize it in our teachers, health workers, farmers, fisherfolk and overseas Filipinos who sustain our families and communities,’ he said.

‘We find it in every citizen who helps a neighbor, protects the vulnerable, and works honestly for the common good,’ Marcos added.

The president also hoped for Filipinos to continually prove themselves worthy of the liberty the heroes have fought for and build a country that future generations will proudly inherit.

Four retired military generals who once steered the Army’s 10th Infantry Division (10ID) returned to their former headquarters on Friday, Aug. 28, in a rare homecoming tribute honoring the leaders who shaped the unit’s operational legacy.

Held at Camp General Manuel T. Yan Sr. in Barangay Tuboran, Mawab, Davao de Oro, the ‘Agila Tribute’ was organized by Maj. Gen. Alvin Luzon, 10ID commander, to recognize retired Gen. Noel Clement, retired Gen. Jose Faustino Jr., retired Lt. Gen. Ernesto Torres Jr., and retired Maj. Gen. Reuben Basiao.

Clement and Faustino both rose to become the 52nd and 56th chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, respectively. Torres later headed the Northern Luzon Command and served as executive director of the NTF-ELCAC National Secretariat.

During the gathering, the honorees reflected on their leadership journeys at the helm of the division and expressed gratitude to Luzon for the opportunity to reconnect with former colleagues and personnel.

‘Your names are part of our history. Your accomplishments are part of our institutional memory. Your lessons continue to influence the way we lead and serve,’ Luzon told the former commanders.

Luzon also challenged the current roster of troops to protect and advance the gains of their predecessors as the division transitions from sustaining an insurgency-free jurisdiction to posturing for external security operations.

‘To the current leaders and personnel of the Agila Division, this homecoming should remind us of our responsibility. We have inherited a legacy, something we must strengthen,’ Luzon said.

The event featured a ceremonial toast and the presentation of ‘The Eagle’ paintings to each honoree.

Also in attendance were retired Assistant Division Commanders Brig. Gen. Mario Lacurom and Brig. Gen. Maning Tawantawan, alongside other former senior officers of the 10ID.

The summer capital has been at the center of a budding metropolis for two years now, although this may not yet be common knowledge.

Working behind the scenes is the fledgling Metropolitan Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay Development Authority, more commonly known by the acronym BLISTT.

Much like the older Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the BLISTT metropolis has been quietly examining cross-border problems shared by Baguio and its five closest Benguet neighbors-the provincial capital and vegetable trading center La Trinidad; vegetable-producing towns Tuba, Tublay and Sablan; and Itogon, home to some of the Philippines’ oldest operating mines.

Lawyer Liberato Ramos Jr., one of the authority’s top managers, emphasized that BLISTT would not intervene in the policy directions of individual local governments. Instead, it would serve as a bridge toward joint solutions.

Ramos made the clarification when he introduced the BLISTT Metropolitan Authority for the first time to the Baguio City Council on Aug. 24.

Every local government would have complementary roles in the BLISTT metropolis, according to Marygail Antonette Killa, senior manager for planning and forester Marcial Aloda.

‘Baguio City is governance, healthcare, innovation, education, commerce, tourism,’ Aloda told the council.

He added: ‘La Trinidad is focused on agritechnology, education, trade and services. Itogon focuses on ecotourism, watershed, energy and mining.’

‘Tuba is a gateway and industrial hub. Sablan is focusing on agri-ecology, rural development, and community and Tublay would (center on) highland agriculture, organic farming, and agro-ecotourism,’ Aloda noted.

But while BLISTT intends to concentrate on the urbanizing towns surrounding Baguio, the city remains its ‘metropolitan core,’ Aloda acknowledged.

Problems once shouldered by Baguio alone-overpopulation, excessive waste, dwindling water supplies, traffic gridlock and overconstruction-are now emerging as crises for its Benguet neighbors. Some of these problems have already spilled over from the city.

These issues had been foreseen by the first incarnation of BLISTT as far back as 1990, after the Luzon earthquake once again devastated Baguio.

Conceived and popularized by the late city architect Joseph Alabanza, BLIST-then without Tublay-was envisioned as a blueprint for how Baguio could share or redirect investments and resources to adjoining municipalities to ease the pressure of extreme urbanization.

Affects everyone

Vincent Cabreza/Contributed photo

Tuba, for instance, could attract investments to develop its rolling hills into suburbs for families working in Baguio, Alabanza said in 1990, when he warned of what he saw as the city’s inevitable societal implosion if it continued along the same path.

More importantly, Alabanza argued that every stage of progress-and the benefits or problems it generates-ultimately affects the rest of BLISTT. Those problems are now here.

When a new comprehensive land use plan was presented to the City Council on Aug. 26, architect Donna Tabangin, Baguio’s planning, development and sustainability officer, said the city built 117 years ago under the American colonial government was closer than ever to the irreversible urban decay projected to occur by 2043.

To slow this grim trajectory, Baguio needs new analytical approaches to problems unique to a mountain city that was designed in 1905 by famed Chicago architect Daniel Burnham as a hill station intended to accommodate no more than 25,000 people.

For instance, Tabangin said the city is now planning around what she calls an ‘effective population’-not just its residents, but also tourists, students and people from BLISTT and other parts of Luzon who come to Baguio for business.

In 2023, Baguio received 1.3 million tourists. It also had 6,469 nonresident high school students and 22,054 nonresident college students, while 351,833 people came into the city daily for business transactions, according to city data presented by Tabangin.

Baguio’s nighttime population in 2023 was 380,354, but its effective population doubled to 760,708 during the daytime, when consumption of resources is higher.

Baguio now has a clearer picture of how much it needs to conserve after a 2019 urban carrying-capacity study found that key resources and infrastructure, including public roads, forest cover, water and wastewater treatment, were no longer sufficient for its population.

The carrying capacity of Baguio’s roads, based on a standard of 15 square meters per person, was already 218 percent beyond capacity when measured against the resident population, Tabangin said.

‘But if you measure the road against an effective population, it really gets worse because we are now 437 percent beyond the capacity,’ she added, helping explain the city’s worsening traffic congestion.

‘We need a city that’s more compact in such a way that we cannot spread out and encroach more on our open spaces and green spaces because we need that for sustainability. We need to align development with the resource that’s available,’ Tabangin said.

Water constraints

Vincent Cabreza/Contributed photo

Water, Tabangin said, will be the ‘binding constraint’ for all of Baguio’s future programs, business incentives and public service initiatives.

‘We are in severe deficit based on computations and it’s rapidly worsening. So development cannot happen if the water supply cannot support the intensity of development there,’ she said.

Baguio’s current water deficit stands at 13,900 cubic meters per day, she said, with the city having exceeded its water carrying capacity by 158 percent.

The city’s other life-support systems are similarly under pressure.

Baguio’s forest cover is approaching a ‘near ecological threshold’ and is already 113 percent beyond its carrying capacity, while its green cover, or total vegetation, has a ‘large capacity deficit,’ at 104 percent beyond capacity.

The city’s new land use plan aims to make all 128 barangays more livable, Tabangin said, but doing so requires an audit of Baguio’s living conditions.

Preserving open spaces will be crucial. About 36 percent of Baguio’s 57.5-square-kilometer territory is covered by proclaimed civil and military reservations, equivalent to 2,083.4 hectares (ha), while 3,865 ha are designated as environmental protected areas.

Baguio’s notoriously high land prices are partly a result of these constraints.

Around 2,930 ha are titled properties, while about 658 ha are certified ancestral lands owned by Baguio Ibaloys, including their only ancestral domain.

Tabangin said the new land use plan also seeks to harness Baguio’s demographic dividend, with 70 percent of its working-age population being young and potentially capable of accelerating economic growth.

It has been the city’s youth, she noted, who have often stirred change-from volunteering to clean and repaint school walls to taking up activist causes in the city’s streets.

Police rescued a minor who was held hostage in Barangay Daddaay, Alilem, Ilocos Sur, on Saturday, Aug. 29.

The Ilocos Sur Police Provincial Office (ISPPO) said the suspect, a 37-year-old man reportedly with a mental disability, was inside a house with the child when police arrived after receiving a report about the incident.

Personnel of the Alilem Municipal Police Station immediately responded and began negotiating with the suspect in an effort to safely resolve the situation.

While negotiations were underway, a concerned resident called out the suspect’s name, prompting him to look toward a window.

Police seized the opportunity to move in and pull the child away from the suspect, successfully rescuing the minor.

The child, whose age was not disclosed, sustained wounds to both legs and was given first aid by a rural health unit nurse who was at the scene.

According to investigators, the victim was later brought to the Ilocos Sur District Hospital-Bio in Tagudin for further medical attention.

The suspect’s relationship to the victim was not immediately known.

Police said the operation was carried out with caution to protect both the child and the suspect and prevent further harm.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has delivered 24,029 family food packs (FFPs) to various warehouses and prepositioning areas in the Ilocos Region as it prepares for possible relief operations amid continuing rains.

Three trucks carrying 5,179 FFPs arrived on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the DSWD Field Office 1 satellite warehouse in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, while another truck delivered 1,700 FFPs to a prepositioning area in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.

The deliveries were part of the agency’s continuing replenishment of relief supplies and efforts to ensure that food packs are readily available for families who may need assistance as rains persist.

Additional FFPs were also delivered to the DSWD regional warehouse in Biday, San Fernando City, La Union.

The DSWD said the additional stocks would strengthen its capacity to respond to communities that may be affected by prolonged rainfall, flooding and other weather-related incidents in the region.

The agency continues to coordinate with local government units and disaster response authorities to ensure the timely distribution of assistance to affected families

Due to the southwest monsoon, or ‘habagat,’ state meteorologists warned of heavy rainfall of up to 200 millimeters in 23 Luzon provinces on Sunday.

In its 5 a.m. outlook, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said an orange rainfall warning was in effect over Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, La Union, Benguet, Bataan, Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga.

Under an orange rainfall warning, these areas are expected to experience 100 to 200 millimeters of rain in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, a yellow rainfall warning was hoisted over Metro Manila, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Occidental Mindoro.

These areas are anticipated to receive 50 to 100 millimeters of rain within the day.

According to Pagasa, three weather systems are being observed inside the Philippine area of responsibility.

These are Tropical Depression Sauder, formerly Obet, which is not directly affecting the country; a low-pressure area east of extreme northern Luzon; and the monsoon.

‘Right now, the southwest monsoon or habagat is still the main weather system affecting the country, particularly parts of Luzon. A large part of the western section of Luzon has been affected by the cloudiness brought by the southwest monsoon,’ Pagasa weather specialist Obet Badrina reported

The Human Organ Preservation Effort of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (HOPE-NKTI) is encouraging the public to become organ donors for the more than 500 individuals in the country currently in need of a transplant.

According to Dr. Anthony Russel Villanueva, head of HOPE-NKTI, the average number of deceased organ donors in the hospital is ‘not increasing,’ with only around 10 to 12 per year.

On the other hand, he said, there are now more than 500 patients in need of an organ transplant, based on the NKTI data from 2025.

Villanueva also reported that there were 64,000 new dialysis patients in the country in 2024.

The number of dialysis patients tend to increase by around 10 percent to 15 percent each year, with most of them qualifying for a kidney transplant, he added.

Culture factor

‘The demand is high but the number of our organ donors is low, so we really need the help of everyone for advocacy. So that it would be in our culture to donate,’ Villanueva told reporters on Friday.

‘In other countries, it’s a great honor for them to donate. When you become an organ donor, you are a hero to the community. Hopefully we can have that same mindset,’ he added.

To become an organ donor, the public can sign up by scanning the QR code that can be accessed through the HOPE-NKTI’s official Facebook page.

Villanueva explained that HOPE-NKTI deals with deceased organ donations, which involves patients who have already been declared as ‘brain dead.’ Aside from organs, he said, bones and tissues, including corneas, can also be donated to help not just those with illnesses but also persons with disabilities.

One challenge

But before any organ can be donated, consent must be secured first from the family of the potential donor, he stressed, adding:

‘By our experience, even if it’s in your license that you are an organ donor, we still need the consent of the legal next of kin.’

Villanueva acknowledged that obtaining such consent can be challenging. ‘Because we are (usually) an extended family, sometimes a sibling has already agreed but they want to wait for their sister’s or mother’s [agreement].’

‘When it takes time, that is a challenge because of the viability of the organ. From brain death, there will come a time where the heart stops, and by then [the organ] is no longer viable for donation,’ he explained.

To prevent this problem, Villanueva urged those who are planning to become organ donors to speak with their family regarding their decision.

‘They are really the ones who decide. Maybe you consented in your personal [capacity], but of course, the family’s [consent] is still needed,’ he said.

Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains and enhanced by four weather disturbances so far this month have left more than 30 people dead, mostly in Luzon, authorities said.

Nine Aetas in Zambales and Pampanga and two workers at Subic Bay Freeport were among the latest fatalities confirmed on Saturday.

A lahar warning was also issued on Saturday for communities in Pampanga, where the devastation of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption remains indelible in local memory. This time, however, the threat of ‘noneruption lahar’ is not due to volcanic activity but to heavy rains letting deposits of pyroclastic material loose on local rivers.

A section of the decades-old Aquino Bridge in Tarlac province collapsed Friday night. Public works officials traced the cause of the structural damage to the strong currents of Tarlac River.

This month alone saw four tropical cyclones entering the Philippine area of responsibility, with the latest, Typhoon Obet,(international name: Saudel), being the 15th for the year.

In August 2025, the country by then had experienced only the ninth cyclone of the year, Isang (Kajiki). Benguet landslides

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Saturday placed the death toll due to weather-induced calamities at 32, starting the count from ‘Luis’ (Peilou) which made landfall on Aug. 3. After Luis was ‘Maymay’ (Kujiri) on Aug. 5 and ‘Neneng’ (Gaenari) on Aug. 18 but no landfall and ‘Obet’ on Aug 24, also no landfall.

At least 8 million people, or 2.3 million families, have been affected across 10 regions, the OCD said.

Among provinces, Benguet recorded the highest number of deaths with 15, all from landslides. Ten of them were in Baguio City, three in Atok town and two in La Trinidad.

Four deaths were recorded in Rizal province, with two of them due to a rockslide in Rodriguez town. One person was pinned to death by a fallen tree in Antipolo, while another drowned in Binangonan.

Batangas province recorded four deaths: one drowned in Batangas City and another in Mabini, one was electrocuted in Lipa, and another was killed in a landslide in Santa Teresita.

The other fatalities were recorded in the provinces of La Union, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and Negros Occidental, and in Caloocan City.

At least 19 people have been injured, including 12 in Benguet province.

Three people remained missing: one each in Quezon City, Manila and Batangas City.

Infra, agri damage

The affected regions as of Saturday were Regions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9, as well as the Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon, the National Capital Region and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan).

Some 25,800 people from 7,500 families were staying in 297 evacuation centers.

The OCD said about 2,900 houses had been damaged, including 349 classified as totally damaged.

Damage to infrastructure was estimated at P6.11 billion, while agricultural losses were placed at P2.32 billion.

At least 117 local government units have declared a state of calamity, with the government releasing P1.65 billion worth of relief assistance, the OCD added.

Communities along the river systems draining Mt. Pinatubo were placed on heightened alert around 11 a.m. on Saturday, after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned that heavy rains could generate noneruption lahars.

Aeta passengers

Major rivers on the western side of Mt. Pinatubo still hold significant deposits from the volcano’s 1991 pyroclastic density currents, mainly mixtures of ash and rock fragments.

The potential lahar flow is likely to be confined to the upper to middle reaches of the Sto. Tomas-Marella and Bucao river systems, but could turn into muddy streamflows and flooding downstream, affecting communities in San Marcelino, San Narciso, San Felipe and Botolan.

They are among the river systems covered by a government dredging project that has been going on for the last six years.

Nine members of Aeta communities, including five children, have died in two separate incidents in Zambales and Pampanga.

In Zambales, recovered on Saturday were the bodies of two children, age 3 and 8, who went missing after a boat carrying 13 Aeta passengers capsized on Wednesday in Mapanuepe Lake in San Marcelino town.

The search was still ongoing at press time for the last missing passenger, a 26-year-old pregnant woman.

In Pampanga, a 73-year-old Aeta man died in a landslide at Barangay Pidpid in Porac town on Friday, according to Vice Gov. Dennis Pineda.

The landslide occurred about 20 kilometers south of Mt. Pinatubo amid persistent rains.

Pineda said at least 30 Aeta families had been relocated to the Pio evacuation center near the Porac town proper as a precaution.

Subic incident

At the Subic Bay Freeport, two people died and two others were injured after being buried in a landslide at Tipo High-Tech Park on Saturday.

Initial reports from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Law Enforcement Department identified the dead as Peng Jiahan, 26, a Chinese national and a sales and marketing supervisor at Fubong Environmental Technology; and Ernesto Ramos, a Filipino dump truck driver.

Details regarding the two injured victims were still being verified as of press time.

Earlier, the SBMA reported that a ‘soil erosion incident’ occurred at Tipo due to nonstop heavy rains