Female lieutenant killed from landslide due to ‘Nona’

A young female lieutenant was killed from a landslide incident from rains spawned by Typhoon Nona (international name Melor) Wednesday midnight in Infanta, Quezon.

Lt. Col. Christopher Tampus, battalion commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion identified the officer as Second Lieutenant Michelle Mae Delariarte, civil military operations officer of the same unit.

She and her three other companions were on their way back to their headquarters in Quezon from Manila after shopping for prizes for her unit’s Christmas party.

“Meron kaming mga pa-raffle sa tropa namin; namili sila ng gamit. So nung pauwi na medyo na traffic at natagalan sila,” Tampus said.

Delariarte was with First Lieutenant Sarah Jane Bagasol, Private First Class Cheryl Ramirez and the driver Corporal Renato Villanueva.

Tampus said he was supposed to pick them up when they were about 10 kilometers away from the camp. They asked for help because of bad weather and the landslides.

Because of the landslides, the vehicle almost fell off a cliff while traversing the Marikina-Infanta Road.

“Malapit na siyang malaglag. Mga five steps na lang siya malaglag na siya sa bangin na malalim so hindi nalaglag pero kaya lang gumulong gulong,” he said.

Delariarte’s remains were brought to Manila while her companions sustained injuries and were brought to the hospital.