Bukidnon trekker remains missing after week-long search

PANGANTUCAN, Bukidnon— A total of 127 volunteers, soldiers, and police officers backed by drones and K9 units have failed to find missing 31-year-old hiker Alkharj Gomez Zamayla, who went missing while climbing Mt. Kalatungan, the country’s fifth-highest mountain.

Barangay Kagawad Emelia Guina said seven search parties led by local guides have failed to find Zamayla in the 35,812-hectare Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park, which straddles the towns of Pangantucan, Talakag, and Maramag.

READ: Search ramps up for missing hiker on Mt. Kalatungan in Bukidnon

A small task force of volunteers has set up base at the Barangay Portulin hall in Pangantucan town, which serves as the operations headquarters.

Zamayla, an industrial safety officer for a local construction company in Bukidnon, went missing after becoming separated from a group of hikers on June 12.

Guina, who is the task force spokesperson, said that after five days of searching, the only clue recovered was a piece of toilet paper found along one of the trails.

“That is not conclusive evidence that it was his,” Guina said.

Guina said Zamayla was last seen wearing a green jacket and carrying a backpack with an umbrella tucked inside.

Zamayla’s younger sister, Alyzzah, told the Inquirer that her brother is an experienced mountaineer who has previously climbed the 2,320-meter Mt. Lumot in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental, and the 2,941-meter Mt. Dulang-Dulang in Lantapan, Bukidnon—the country’s second-highest peak./coa