Search fails to find missing hiker in Bukidnon
CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 26 June 2026) — Authorities ended on June 23 the search and rescue operation for Alkharj Gomez Zamayla, a hiker who went missing two weeks ago on Mt. Kalatungan Range in Bukidnon.
Major Joann Navarro, spokesperson for Police Regional Office 10, said authorities in Bukidnon ended the search and rescue phase after the 11-day operation yielded no signs of the missing 31-year-old hiker on the 2,824-meter Mt. Kalatungan, the country’s fifth highest peak.
Navarro said the decision was approved by all search parties and Pangantucan Mayor Manolito Garces following a thorough assessment of all available information and the 11-day operation.
She added that the decision was discussed with and understood by Zamayla’s family, who has kept a vigil in Barangay Portulin, where the operation’s base camp was established.
“Despite the termination, the Pangantucan municipal police station will continue to monitor the case for any developments,” Navarro said.
The search and rescue operation for Zamayla involved Army Special Forces K9 units, thermal-imaging drones, local guides, and volunteer mountaineers from across Northern Mindanao.
In a Facebook post, Zamayla’s sister, Shola Zamayla-Biasca, said their family refuses to give up hope, believing his brother is still alive somewhere within the 35,812-hectare Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park, which straddles the towns of Pangantucan, Talakag, and Maramag, and Valencia City.
Biasca offered a cash reward for anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of her brother, who works as an industrial safety officer for a top firm in Valencia City, Bukidnon.
“Our family is absolutely not giving up on him, and we desperately need your help and your eyes on the ground to bring him home,” she said.
Zamayla went missing last June 12 after he got separated from a group of mountaineers while trekking Mt. Kalatungan. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
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