Mount Pinatubo. TONETTE T. OREJAS FILE PHOTO/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON
Twenty-seven mountaineers on top of Mt. Pinatubo sought rescue early Monday, the regional civil defense office in Central Luzon said.
Nigel Lontoc, assistant director of Office of Civil Defense in Central Luzon, said in phone interview that the mountaineers were in Mt. Pinatubo since Saturday.
“They called up the [National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council] in Manila early Monday to ask for help and the NDRRMC coordinated with us,” he said.
“Dahil nahiwalay yung ibang grupo naubusan ng battery sa cellphone at handheld radio hindi na magka contact-an nagpanic,” he said. However, he added that the group is already intact.
(Since the other groups were separated and the batteries of their cellphone and handheld radio were drained, they were not able to contact each other which resulted in panic.)
The group were also said to be running out of supplies.
Lontoc said that three persons were slightly injured but it is still up for confirmation.
A chopper that took off from Basa Air Base had been deployed around 10:30 a.m. to rescue the mountaineers and it will take about less than an hour to get to the viewdeck.
“Hindi sila makukuha lahat so balikan. Yung iba pwedeng sa baba dumaan, yung may karga sa vehicle. Yung may emergency sa chopper na lang,” Lontoc said.
(The rescue team will go back because they cannot be rescued all at once. Those carrying mountaineers may go downward. The chopper will carry those with emergency situations.)
The mountaineers, who reached the viewdeck via Porac, Pampanga, did not secure permit from the local tourism office of Tarlac or Pampanga.
“Hindi humingi ng clearance na aakyat, sila-sila lang. Hindi sila dumaan sa Porac tourism office or Capas tourism office para mabigyan ng guide based sa partial info,” he said.
(They did not ask for clearance that they will climb, they went on their own. They did not drop by Porac tourism office or Capas tourism office so they could have been given a guide, based on partial information.)
Those who wish to climb Mt. Pinatubo need to go through the local tourism office for clearance. A tour guide is usually assigned to the visitors.
Lontoc noted that the weather condition was fair in Pampanga and Tarlac. RAM
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