DAVAO CITY – Responders hope to find more survivors after a three-year girl was rescued on Friday, February 9, three days after the landslide in Barangay Masara in Maco, Davao de Oro.

RESPONDERS conduct search and rescue operations in Maco, Davao de Oro, on February 7. (Office of the Provincial Fire Marshal (OPFM) Davao de Oro / AFP)

Davao de Oro Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office spokesperson Edward Macapili confirmed that a three-year-old girl was rescued around 7 to 8 a.m. from the landslide site.

However, Macapili said no further details on where exactly and how the child was rescued were provided. “No further details were given, it was just rescued from the landslide site,” he said.

As of 12 p.m. on Friday, the Maco Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office confirmed that a three-year-old girl was rescued. But the MDRRMO did not mention the reported rescue of the baby.

The MDRRMO said 27 persons have been killed in the landslide as of 6 p.m. on Friday, with 89 still missing and 32 injured.

In an interview with Davao-based Newsline Philippines, Orlando Malacaste, the three-year-old survivor’s father, recounted that they were eating dinner on February 6 when the landslide hit.

Malacaste, who works as a security guard of Apex Mining Co., recalled that his wife may have been buried when she and their daughter rushed outside their house upon hearing the rumblings.

He was able to get out of their house, along with another daughter, through another door.

Malacaste is hopeful that his wife and another daughter are still alive after responders rescued her daughter.

Macapili said the local government and other concerned agencies have agreed to extend the search and rescue operation for another 48 hours.

He added that they will have to decide if they will shift to search and retrieval when the extension expires. “With the recovery of the girl, the responders are still very hopeful to find more survivors from the site.”

Survival expert Dr. Teofredo Esguerra had earlier said that there is still a chance to find survivors for as long as there is void and oxygen supply.

Esguerra, who is in Davao region with a team from the Energy Development Corp. to assist in disaster response, added that if the landslide debris is composed of rocks, there is a chance of having voids or air passages. However, if it was all mud and water, the chances of survival is slim, Esguerra said.

Missing persons

The number of missing abruptly spiked from 49 to 110.

The MDRRMO reported that as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, the number of missing was 49 but rose to 110 in their following report at 4:30 p.m.

The MDRRMO explained the number of missing persons composed of residents and Apex Mining Co. staff in the report. It is still being validated by the Management of the Dead and the Missing Cluster of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

At least 1,100 families from Barangay Masara are still in evacuation centers.

In a statement on Wednesday, February 7, Apex Mining Co. confirmed that there were four 60-seat buses and one 36-person capacity jeep waiting for outgoing employees when the landslide happened. One of the buses had left for Mawab, Davao de Oro, while the rest were still waiting for the bus during the landslide, the mining firm added.

Based on Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) records, Apex Mining Co. operates a gold mine in Maco under the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA).