ITOGON, BENGUET?Jessie Panio along with a group of rescuers trudged the murky, smelly water inside the Level 700 tunnel here Monday, searching for the remaining 14 local miners trapped there at the height of Typhoon ?Nina? (international codename: Hagupit) last week.

While navigating the dark pit in the Shaft 114 area past 3 p.m., Panio?s group, including miners and Philippine Navy divers, heard shouts.

They traced the sound to a crevice where Panio?s brother, Jose Panio Jr., and Antonio ?Ngitit? Pagulayan, two of the missing miners, were holed up.

Pagulayan and Panio, both from Hingyon, Ifugao, were pulled out alive 45 minutes later, exactly a week after floodwaters swamped the gold field owned by Benguet Mining Corporation at Purok 7, Gold Field Poblacion, Itogon.

Neoman dela Cruz, director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), confirmed the rescue of the two in a phone interview.

"This is some sort of a miracle," Dela Cruz told The Associated Press by telephone. "Our hardships have been compensated and we won't give up our search for more survivors."

Hopes there might be more survivors were raised when the rescued miners claimed to have heard voices inside the gold field, Dela Cruz added.

Rescuers earlier confirmed three of the miners had died but that they had recovered only two of the bodies. One of the dead was identified as Joel Bulga. The fate of at least 11 others was unknown.

DENR-MGB has placed the official number of miners trapped inside the gold field at 16.

A log book listed some of the missing as Robert Buway of Itogon; Gilbert Nattem, Rudy Boling Jr. and Jerry Munyobda of Ifugao; Garry Ganu and Joel Bulga of Quirino; and Mario and Joseph Anayasan. Also missing were Jayson, Rudy, Jojo, Juan, Marvin and Vincent, all surnamed Himmayod, from Quirino.

George Baywong, a government engineer coordinating rescue efforts, said the search teams and Navy divers reported that they found another set of survivors but failed to reach them because of the high water level.

He said the two rescued miners managed to survive by standing on a ledge in one of the tunnels about 400-700 feet (120-210 meters) below ground where there was enough oxygen to keep them alive.

An emergency response unit (ERU) from the Philippine National Red Cross immediately administered first aid to the two, said PNRC chairman Senator Richard Gordon. Gordon said ERU team leader Pablito Nilo described the two as in ?poor physical condition,? as they lived off on only water for the past seven days.

Gaylord Panio, Jose?s 40-year-old brother, and Pablo Tude, Pagulayan?s half-brother, accompanied the two survivors to Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

Based on the initial examinations conducted by paramedics, the two miners were pronounced healthy, although Pagulayan was bruised and weakened, according to volunteers of the Baguio Benguet Public Information and Civic Action Group.

The paramedics also found their blood pressure and pulse rate readings to be normal. ?It?s all good,? Gaylord said.

2 liters of water

Gaylord said he spoke to Pagulayan, who recounted that he and Jose survived by drinking water they brought with them when they entered the tunnel at 6 p.m. on Sept. 22.

?He told me that they consumed two liters of water. They brought along food that was good for only one meal because they did not expect to stay long,? Gaylord said.

He said the two miners were close to the entrance and were planning to swim out of the tunnel when they heard the rescue workers.

?The floodwaters finally went down long enough for the rescuers to enter,? Gaylord said.

He said Pagulayan was certain that they were only a few meters away from the portal, but to reach Shaft 114, where they were found, rescuers had to walk 2 kilometers underground from Portal AGF, which took them two hours.

Upon reaching Shaft 114, rescuers had to go 270 feet down, using ladders.

More survivors reported

At 5:12 p.m. Monday, medical personnel were alerted to a report that rescue workers were searching for three more survivors.

Gaylord said the Ifugao miners relocated here a year ago and had been staying together in a camp.

?Going through the tunnel during storms is normal. This was not unusual for us. We do this all the time,? he said.

Tude said Pagulayan used to tend a small garden in Hingyon, but decided to join him here when the farming did not bring enough income.

Several rescuers who had repeatedly gone into the flooded tunnel sought medical examination.

?I feel dizzy and I?m losing appetite,? said Wilson Badangayon, one of the miners involved in the search. Another miner said he was suffering from fever.

The medical team, however, said the rescuers could have suffered only from stress and exhaustion.

Earlier, a Navy diver said rescue workers had to bear with the stench in the tunnel and the dirty floodwater mixed with pieces of rotting flesh.

In La Trinidad town, Gov. Nestor Fongwan expressed irritation over claims that the miners trapped in the abandoned mining tunnel in Itogon town were operating illegally.

?The tunnel is within a patented mining claim of a big company. The fact that small-scale miners entered the area should not be a reason to limit the assistance they needed,? he said.

?The area is within a large-scale mining operation. But how come there were small-scale miners? Who should now be responsible?? Fongwan asked.

He took to task the MGB for not having a clear policy on small-scale miners working on large-scale mining areas.

Dela Cruz stressed that the trapped miners entered the gold field ?illegally? as they failed to secure permits from both Benguet Mining Corp. and the DENR-MGB in the region but left it to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to conduct its investigation on the incident.

Benguet Mining had issued a statement denying negligence on its part with respect to the maintenance of its mines, working or abandoned. With reports from Associated Press; Abigail Kwok, INQUIRER.net; and Delmar Cariño, Inquirer Northern Luzon