Facebook abuzz with rescue of 2 UP mountaineers

Facebook account of Albay Gov. Joey Salceda (screen grab)

NAGA CITY, Philippines—The Facebook was abuzz with the rescue of two University of the Philippines mountaineers on  afternoon Sunday as the provincial disaster risk reduction management council and the Red Cross in Albay scampered to bring them down from the peak of Mt. Mayon before darkness set in.

Updates on the rescue efforts were posted on the Facebook account of Albay Gov. Joey Salceda.  At about 4:30 p.m., the students and their rescue team had reached the exit in Camp One in Bacacay, Albay at about 4:30 p.m. and at 5 p.m., the two students had been brought down from the mountain.

PO2 Oliver Marcaida of the Legazpi City police, however, said the city police had no information about the supposed rescue operation of the two UP mountaineers.

In the Facebook account of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) in Albay, the two UP mountaineers were named as female student Ros Aldeguer and Ramon Vizmanos.

According to the Facebook account, the two belonged to a bigger group who went up Mt. Mayon earlier in the day but were left behind by the guide they contracted in Barangay (village) Bonga, Bacacay.

The provincial government immediately organized a rescue team headed by George  De Mesa Cardovilla, according to the update of Governor Salceda in the Facebook.  Salceda was getting his news from a certain Dorothy Fernandez Colle.

The governor said he asked Cardovilla, a mountaineering expert, to head the rescue team because Cardovilla and his group were the only guides who have been coordinating their activities with the provincial tourism council. “Thus, he is the only one I recommend for tourists who want to climb Mayon,” the governor said in his Facebook account.

The governor added, “We expect a big surge in Mayon climbing after its alert status has been lowered to zero. Thus, we are expediting the formulation, approval and implementation of the Mayon climbing ordinance. “