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PANGANTUCAN, Bukidnon (MindaNews / 18 June 2026) — A total of 127 volunteers, soldiers, and police officers backed by drones and K9 units have failed to find 31-year-old hiker Alkharj Gomez Zamayla, who went missing while climbing Mt. Kalatungan, the country’s fifth-highest mountain.
Barangay Kagawad Emelia Guina told MindaNews Wednesday seven search parties led by local guides have so far failed to find Zamayla in the 35,812-hectare Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park that straddles the towns of Pangantucan, Talakag, and Maramag, and the City of Valencia.
A small task force of vehicles and volunteers has set up base at the Barangay Portulin hall in Pangantucan town, which also serves as the operations headquarters for the search and rescue efforts.
Zamayla, an industrial safety officer for a local construction company in Bukidnon, went missing after becoming separated from a group of hikers on June 12.
Guina, who is the taskforce spokesperson, said after five days of searching, the only clue recovered was a piece of tissue paper found along one of the trails.
“That is not conclusive evidence that it was his. After five days, we still believe he is alive though, lost in the vastness of the mountain,” Guina said.
Guina said she is confident Zamayla is still alive because of his background as a mountaineer and, speaking as someone who has climbed the mountain several times, she said Mt. Kalatungan has plenty of water sources.
She said Zamayla was last seen wearing a green jacket and carrying a backpack with an umbrella tucked inside.
Guina described Mt. Kalatungan as very damp with a “fairytale-like environment” and covered in dense moss, orchids, and ferns.
But unlike other mountains like neighboring Mt. Kitanglad and Mt. Dulang-Dulang, the trails are not as well-established, making it easy for even the most experienced mountaineer to get disoriented.
“We believed he (Zamayla) got lost after he got separated from the group,” Guina said.
She said 47 hikers joined the “Freedom Climb” organized by one of the tour operators in Pangantucan town on June 12.
She said Zamayla, who has a relative who is a guide in one of the tour operators, did not go through the usual process for climbers.
The process dictates that climbers must go with a local tour operator, register at the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and contact the local tourism officer who will then determine the date of the planned climb.
Guina said the process is in place to ensure that not too many climbers will be at the mountain at any one time, which will have a negative impact on the environment.
She said Zamayla’s climb is considered as going through a “backdoor,” a hiker’s term for evading registration, and hence his ascent was “illegal and unsanctioned.”
Nevertheless, she said they are all committed to finding him because they understand what his predicament must mean to his family.
Meanwhile, Zamayla’s younger sister, Alyzzah, told MindaNews that her brother is an experienced mountaineer who has previously climbed the 2,320-meter Mt. Lumot in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental, and the 2,941-meter Mt. Dulang-Dulang in Lantapan, Bukidnon — the country’s second-highest peak.
Alyzzah and a group of relatives are staying at the “Tulugan” (tribal house) provided by Guina and the Manobo-Talaandig community, where they have been waiting since Sunday for news of the search.
“My brother knows mountains. He has climbed mountains before,” Alyzzah said. (Froilan Gallardo with a report from JB R. Deveza / MindaNews)
