14 climbers rescued off Bataan mountain

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BALANGA CITY—Fourteen mountain climbers stranded by bad weather at Mt. Tarak in Mariveles, Bataan, were rescued by police and members of the Mariveles search and rescue team on Wednesday morning.

Senior Insp. Melanio Santiago, deputy police chief of Mariveles police, said the mountain climbers from the Mapua Institute of Technology went up the mountain on Oct. 1 and were about to descend on Wednesday morning when they were stalled by heavy rainfall and poor visibility in Mt. Tarak.

Landslide

The group was able to relay the message about their condition to village official Elpidio Estibar who then sought the help of the Mariveles police.

In Nueva Ecija, reports from the Office of Civil Defense in Central Luzon said a landslide hit a lane of the national highway in Barangay Putlan in Carranglan town on Wednesday. Personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways, however, had cleared the highway of debris by Wednesday afternoon.

In Isabela, two overflow bridges in the province were closed on Wednesday due to heavy rains and the swelling of rivers.

Submerged

Reynato Ubiña, head of Isabela’s first engineering district, said the Santa Maria-Cabagan and Cabagan-Santo Tomas overflow bridges had been closed after these were submerged.

The Magat Dam in Ramon town has been releasing water through two gates since Oct. 2. Saturnino Tenedor, Magat dam instrumentation section chief, said water level at the reservoir reached 192.19 meters above sea level (masl) on Wednesday, less than a meter to its 193 masl spilling level. With reports from Greg Refraccion and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon