Authorities end 12-day search for missing trekker in Bukidnon

VALENCIA CITY, Bukidnon — Search and rescue operations for a 31-year-old hiker who went missing on Mt. Kalatungan in Bukidnon province had been terminated after authorities exhausted all possible search areas without finding any trace of him, an official said.

Alkharj Gomez Zamayla, a resident of Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, and a safety officer for a construction company based in Bukidnon, was reported missing after climbing the country’s fifth-highest mountain on June 12.

READ: Bukidnon trekker remains missing after week-long search

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Rhyneheart Silva Uy, chief of the Incident Management Team of the Pangantucan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), said search teams composed of soldiers, police personnel, local guides, volunteers, K9 units, and drone operators combed the mountain’s major trails from the Portulin entry point to the forests covering Barangays Concepcion and New Eden.

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Uy said the operation covered more than 600 hectares of rugged forest, including areas where Zamayla was believed to have last passed.

Search teams also deployed K9 Bella—the rescue dog credited with locating landslide victims in Quezon, Bukidnon in 2024—and two thermal drones provided by private companies, but neither yielded any leads.

“We have already searched all possible trails. If he had died within the area, there would likely have been signs or odor, but none were found,” Uy told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on June 26. /jpv

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