Discovery of human leg restarts search operation for missing victim of Kibungan landslide

Kibungan, Benguet – Having found a human leg in the area where a landslide incident carried away two siblings during the height of Typhoon Maring on October 11, the Balangen family and some concerned citizens resumed the search and rescue operation for the body of Romy Balangen.

Romy, 25, married and a resident of Sitio Todag, Tacadang, Kibungan, went missing in the said incident while his brother identified as June Perez Balangen, 20, was found dead at around 10 AM of October 12 in the same area.

As recalled, the two, along with their other sibling, were heading back home from the rice fields when part of the rice field eroded and carried June and Romy into the river located below the fields. One of the siblings managed to escape the deadly erosion.

The Mountain Province Broadcasting Corporation, in an interview with Councilor Roger Tugade, reports that a leg was found in the incident area, which the Balangen family believed to be Romy’s after a traditional ritual was performed.

An official in the area in a previous interview related that, though uncertain with the name of the ritual performed, it involves the butchering of a pig and a dog, along with the offering of prayers to the ancestors.

“Patiyen met ti maseknan a pamilya a daytoy ti mapukpukaw a kapamilya da ken namnamaen da a mabirukan da pay dagiti dadduma a parte ti bagi na nu pay saan pay daytoy a naipasidong iti DNA,” MPBC reported.

Meantime, Tugade informed that financial assistance from the different offices and individuals was already provided to the Balangen family and that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has also already conducted psychological first aid for the family.

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