Bones believed those of storm fatality found

CEBU, Philippines - Relatives of the two-year-old child who was carried away by a flashflood at the height of typhoon Seniang in December have claimed a skull and several bones that they believe are those of the child.

The bones were found by the river in Barangay Ilaya, Ronda last Thursday afternoon.

SPO1 Bartomiano Gargar said it was a certain Felipe Malalay, 29, who found the bones near a huge pile of woods while he was walking by the river.

Gargar said it could not be ascertained if the bones were really those of Joyce Bajenting since only a DNA test can prove the same.

Still, the child’s relatives thought they should be Bajenting’s because only two people were reported missing during the typhoon and the other one was a one-month-old child.

“Gi-claim na ang bukog sa mga relatives ni Joyce kay nagtuo man gyud sila nga si Joyce to,” Gargar said.

Fourteen people died in Ronda during the typhoon, among those were the seven members of the Bajenting-Faunillan family in Barangay Liboo, Ronda who were swept away by raging waters together with their house, which was located at the bank of a river.

The family’s one-month-old child remains missing.

“Wala pa gyud mi update atong usa pa ka bata nga na-missing sa bagyo,” Gargar said. –Xenia Maureen Arda, USJ-R Masscom Intern/JMO (FREEMAN)