FILIPINOS from all walks of life paid tribute to five volunteer rescuers in Bulacan province who lost their lives during the onslaught of Super Typhoon ‘Karding’ (international codename, ‘Noru’) which lashed at most of Luzon over the weekend.
President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., in his official Twitter account, led the nation in sending his sympathy and prayers to the families of Narciso Calayag Jr., Jerson Resurreccion, Marby Bartolome, George Agustin and Troy Justin Agustin, on Sunday, September 25, 2022.
The five were members of the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) who were conducting a rescue mission of trapped residents Sitio Galas, San Miguel when the lifeboat they were riding on got swept by strong flood currents.
The remains of the five were retrieved at Sitio Banga-Banga, also in Bgy. Camias.
Their death is among the 8 casualties recorded during the typhoon.
The Senate, for its part, last September 27, 2022, also issued a resolution adopting six separate resolutions filed by senators Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, Robin Padilla, Imee Marcos Joel Villanueva, Lito Lapid and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, also extoling the sacrifice made by the rescuers.
All senators were made co-authors of the resolution.
Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando, in a television interview, said that the five rescuers were forced to use a lifeboat after their rescue truck stalled.
Earlier media reports disclosed the five died after a surge of floodwater caused a concrete wall to collapse and brought strong water current that swept away the team who were aboard the lifeboat.