RESCUERS recovered the fourth victim of a road accident in Bontoc, Mountain Province. (Photo via Clarissa Ancheta)
Rescuers have found the fourth fatality of a truck that plunged into the Chico River in Bontoc, Mountain Province on Monday.
The victim was identified as Carlo Ancheta of Tayug, Pangasinan.
Ancheta’s body was found on the river two meters away from their submerged truck before noon Tuesday in Sitio Gawa, Barangay Tocucan, Bontoc.
Rescuers are still looking for another victim, Edmund Romero, 22, of San Nicolas, Pangasinan.
Authorities earlier three victims – Rogelio Romeo dela Cruz Jr., 22, of San Rafael West, San Nicolas, Pangasinan; JC Aquino Galicia, 20, of San Rafael East, San Nicolas, Pangasinan, and Zoren Jay Luaso Alat, 25, from Siay, Zamboanga del Norte.
The victims were on their way to a construction site in Sadanga, Mountain Province when their truck collided with a Ford Fiera and a mini-dump truck on the Bontoc-Tabuk-Enrile Road and plunged 170 meters into the Chico River.
Before Ancheta’s body was found, Tocucan elders conducted a ritual called Lumawig (Kafunyan) seeking guidance from God for the immediate recovery of the remaining victims and the safety of all responders involved in the ongoing search and rescue operations.
The ritual emphasizes the deep spiritual connection of the Bontoc community, incorporating indigenous cultural practices into emergency response efforts as a symbol of faith, unity, and hope in times of tragedy.