NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Amid disbelief over the loss of her family, Rose Mae Serono, the third of 11 siblings, is not losing hope that her missing relatives are still alive. She welcomed a three-day massive search and retrieval operation for 68 people who have gone missing when Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) battered Negros Island.

The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) of the Negros Island Region (NIR) on Thursday, November 13, launched the operation, led by the Search and Rescue Council Cluster (SRCC) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which will run until Saturday, November 15. Army Brigadier General Ted Dumosmog of the 303rd Infantry Brigade heads the SRCC.

The search operation covers five towns and cities in Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.

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As of Wednesday, November 12, the Department of Interior and Local Government’s Management of the Dead and the Missing Cluster reported 68 people still unaccounted for — 63 in Negros Occidental and five in Canlaon City, Negros Oriental. The worst-hit areas in Negros Occidental include Moises Padilla with 26 missing, La Castellana with 18, Isabela with five, La Carlota City with 10, and Bago City with four.

In Moises Padilla, Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo said three female bodies were recovered Wednesday, including Felipa de la Cruz of Hacienda Pa-it; two others remain unidentified.

Donato Sermeno III, director of the Office of Civil Defense in NIR, described the situation as “alarming” and said Malacañang has advised authorities to exhaust all efforts in speeding up the search and retrieval operations.

“Even Malacañang’s spokesperson, Claire Castro, is calling us, asking for the update, and checking our capability here in Negros in launching an extensive search and retrieval operations,” Sermeno said.

He added: “Let’s be candid – there’s no ‘forever’ in this search and retrieval operation. We need to have closure.”

The SRCC has tapped three additional K9 dogs from the Philippine Coast Guard to augment three from the Police Regional Office. The Philippine Navy has deployed two vessels to expand operations into the Guimaras Strait and Panay waters.

Negros Occidental 5th District Representative Dino Yulo said, “Though we pray for miracles, still, we believe that chances are now slim to see them alive. Employing dogs and drones in searching the missing ones is the most practical way, but if this initiative will still fail, at least we did our best. But in case we find them dead, we will give them a decent burial.”

The three-day operation offered some relief to the Serono family of Sitio Camansi, Barangay Mailum, Bago City, who lost five members when floodwaters swept through their home.

Three of their members, who are children, remain missing, while only the eldest siblings, Roy Jr., 22, survived.

His parents, Roy Sr., 52, and Jenelyn, 45, and three daughters were buried this week.

Roy Jr.’s sister, Roselyn Joy, had been buried three days earlier after her body had begun decomposing when found.

Their aunt, Leah, told Rappler, “We thought they were safe…. We were only shocked when we were informed after the typhoon that the house was no longer there.”

She said that during the height of the typhoon, they were still able to talk online, and Roselyn Joy even showed them how the family had brought their pigs and piglets to the second floor of the house to keep them safe.

But after the storm, everyone was gone except for Roy Jr., who survived after two struggling pigs inadvertently pushed him toward a tree, where he managed to cling for safety.

Rose Mae, who returned from Singapore, described the loss as a “nightmare,” and said she and members of her family who survived were at a loss about how to start again.

Many others, such as the Trafangcos of La Carlota City, are also awaiting news of missing relatives swept away by the floods.

Ariel and Marivic Trafangco, their two daughters, and a nephew were swept away by floodwaters when Typhoon Tino struck. Marivic’s body, already decomposing, was recovered on Wednesday, in a rice field in Hacienda Candelaria, Barangay Bulwangan, San Enrique, while the others remain missing. – Rappler.com