Missing couple found in Bukidnon landslide site

Metro Manila, Philippines - Authorities have recovered the remains of a missing couple in Quezon, Bukidnon, five days after a landslide struck Sitio Kipolot over the weekend.

Quezon information officer Forts Cabarde told NewsWatch Plus that responders found Ely and Thelma Ubatay, both senior citizens, around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, wrapped in each others’ embrace.

The Ubatays were longtime vegetable vendors and residents of Kipolot.

“Galing sila sa Quezon Central Market, papauwi na sila sakay ng kanilang bao-bao nang maaktohan sila na pagguho ng lupa at tuluyang natabunan,” Cabarde said.

[Translation: They were on their way home from the Quezon Central Market when their tricycle got caught in the landslide and was buried.]

The local government said the search and retrieval operations were hampered a number of times by continuous rain and unstable ground.

Disaster management officials said the search was a challenge as the bodies were buried 10 meters deep. Rescuers used search and rescue dogs and ground radar.

The local government said it will provide support and financial assistance to the Ubatay family. The couple was buried Thursday afternoon at the municipal cemetery.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has ordered the construction of a detour road after a section of the Bukidnon-Davao Road collapsed due to the landslide on Saturday, Oct. 18.