PAF helps search for missing hiker

Batangas, Philippines – The Philippine Air Force has sent a search and rescue helicopter to Mt. Maculot in Cuenca town to look for a mountaineer who has been missing since Easter Sunday.

Diosdado Macalintal, a staffer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the 505th Air Force Wing has joined hands with the Cuenca police and volunteers from various mountaineering groups in scouring Barangays Pinagkaisahan and Poblacion in search for Victor Joel Ayson, 27, a member of the hiking group Backpackers United. As of press time, Ayson remained missing.