Backhoe operator’s body found

MANILA, Philippines - Rescue workers retrieved yesterday the body of a backhoe operator who was buried alive with three other men at a sanitary landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal last Friday.

Senior Superintendent Rolando Anduyan, Rizal police director, said a rescue team from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) dug up the body of Gerry Balahibo at 1:45 p.m. yesterday.

“He was still behind the wheel when the MMDA rescuers found his body,” said Anduyan, adding that Balahibo’s remains were taken to a funeral parlor in Antipolo City for autopsy.

Balahibo, along with municipal maintenance men Paquito Esto, Rodovico Ngulod and Eddie Galano, was buried alive when a mountain of garbage collapsed on him last Friday.

Since Saturday, six backhoes and 10 trucks from the MMDA have been digging up the dump for the bodies of the four workers.

Anduyan said the search for the bodies of the three other victims would continue.             – With Mike Frialde