Fatalities in the landslide that hit a gold mining village in Maco, Davao de Oro, are now 27.

According to the latest situation report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council issued on Friday at 11 p.m., at least 35 people were injured, and 89 individuals are still missing.

The data are subject to change due to ongoing validation.

Disaster officials also registered that a total of 1,315 families, or 5,318 people, were affected.

On the same day, two kids—a two-month-old boy and a three-year-old girl—were rescued miraculously alive after being trapped in the rubble for nearly 60 hours.

The female child was rescued during a search and rescue operation, or SAR.

The child is now stable after receiving proper medical attention, the provincial government said.

Search and rescue, not search and retrieval

The provincial DRRMO said that they are currently conducting search and rescue operations, not search and retrieval.

In a radio interview on Saturday, PDRRMO executive assistant on information and communications, Edward Macapili, said that the search and rescue operations are not being administered that quickly due to the massive amount of land that collapsed.

“Unang-una, sa kapal ng lupa na bumagsak na nakatabon sa mga biktima, kasi napakalaki ng bukid na na-landslide." (First of all, due to the thickness of the ground that fell and covered the victims, because the farm that was landslided was very large), he said.

“Pangalawa is yung iniingatan ng mga rescuers, kaya nga hanggang ngayon, gingamit pa rin yung term na search and rescue operation, hindi retrieval, dahil kapag ginamitan natin ng heavy equipment, may mga taong tatamaan.” (Second is what the rescuers avoid; that's why until now, the term search and rescue operation is still used, not retrieval, because when we use heavy equipment, some people will get hit.)

He added that search and retrieval were supposed to be implemented on Friday, but provincial Gov. Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga decided to extend SAR to 14 hours.

“Dapat kahapon, search and retrieval na, kasi sabi ng mag rescuers, dapat 48 hours lang yung search and rescue, then Governor Justice Dorothy Gonzaga put up a meeting with the mayors and asked if baka pwede pang i-extend tong search and rescue, wag muna yung search and retrieval, and nobody objected, so effective yesterday, na-extend nang another 14-hour yung search and rescue,” (The search and retrieval should have been yesterday, because the rescuers said, the search and rescue should only be for 48 hours, then the Governor Justice Dorothy Gonzaga put up a meeting with the mayors and asked if it might be possible to extend the search and rescue and not to conduct the search and retrieval, and nobody objected, so effectively yesterday, the search and rescue were extended to another 14 hours) he said noting that the rescuing of the female child gave them hope that there are still alive in the hard-hit area.

According to Macapili, the female child was able to be traced due to the sniffing of a K9 dog and was rescued through manual digging.

“Yesterday, after ma-recover ng bata, nagkita kaagad sila ng kanyang ama. Kasi dinala siya agad sa ospital for the medical condition, and yung bata kasi anak ng security guard ng Apex Mining. Kasama niya yung isang kapatid niya at yung ina na natabunan, kaya hinahanap pa rin.” (Yesterday, after the girl was rescued, she and her father met immediately, because she was immediately taken to the hospital for the medical condition, and the child is a daughter of Apex Mining's security guard. She was accompanied by one of her siblings and her mother who was buried also, so they are still being searched for.)

In the past few days, SAR operations have been put to a halt due to rains brought by the LPA trough, said Macapili.

“In fact, kahapon, may movement ng onting lindol, kaya nagtakbuhan yung mga rescuers.” (In fact, yesterday, there was a slight earthquake movement, so the rescuers ran.)

The rain-induced landslide hit on Tuesday at 7:40 p.m. at the mining site in Zone 1, Bgy. Masara, Maco.

Apex Mining, the Phillippines’ gold mine operator, earlier said the landslide struck outside the mining village, where two buses waited for workers to finish shifts.

On Wednesday, fifteen passengers in the vehicles were rescued, including two in critical condition, as confirmed by Macapili.

“As far as the initial record is concerned, there are two buses, one with 18 passengers and the other with 12 passengers,” he said, noting that the number of houses buried is still not verified.

The Davao Region has been impounded by rains due to the combined effects of the northeast monsoon and the LPA trough.

A total of 62 damaged houses were reported in Davao de Oro, where classes and work were suspended.