CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews/15 June 2026)— A massive search and rescue operation is
underway in southern Bukidnon for a 31-year-old hiker who has gone missing while climbing
the 9,450-foot Mt. Kalatungan, the country’s fifth-highest peak.

The Bukidnon Provincial Police Office has distributed high-alert flyers seeking information on
the whereabouts of Alkharj Gomez Zamayla, 31, a resident of Jasaan, Misamis Oriental. (The
earlier version of this report wrongly indicated Zamayla’s address as Valencia City in Bukidnon,
and misspelled his sister’s first name as Chola instead of Shola.)
Zamayla is decribed as about five feet and seven inches (5’7″) tall and of slight build.
He was last seen by two other hikers Friday, 12 June 2026, who he asked for water.
Police said Zamayla, an industrial safety officer, was climbing Mt. Kalatungan with a group of
hikers before he became separated while traversing from Barangay Portulin to Barangay Mendis
in Pangantucan town on June 12.
“He was last seen on June 12, 2026 between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM near a river a few minutes
before Camp 1,” the police report said.
Three search parties—organized by the Pangantucan local government, police, and local
hikers—scaled Mt. Kalatungan over the weekend but returned empty-handed.
Zamayla’s sister, Shola Zamayla-Biasca, told MindaNews that a fourth search party deployed
today, June 15, but also failed to find her brother.
“They sent a message that as of 3:20 p.m. today, June 15, they have not found my brother, but
they will continue the search,” Biasca said.
She is hoping that a fifth search party, set to begin search operations on Tuesday, 16 June and
equipped with drones, will find her brother alive. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)