TARLAC CITY, Tarlac — The recovery of Shiela Mae Taborlupa, the third passenger reported missing following the Agana Bridge incident, brings a grim update to the ongoing tragedy in Tarlac City.
Rescuers found Taborlupa dead on Saturday, September 5, in Bayambang, Pangasinan, after her remains were discovered partly buried in mud and trapped among banana trunks, according to reports.
Tarlac City Mayor Susan Yap confirmed the development, noting that rescue units from Tarlac and Pangasinan coordinated the extensive search effort utilizing both drones and a helicopter.
Search operations continue for the remaining missing individual, SUV owner Paul Harvey Collado. His family remains at the site awaiting updates as multi-agency teams press forward with the search across land, water, and air.
The gray Toyota Avanza the victims were in last week was recovered on Sept. 2, 1.5 kilometers from where it plunged into the Tarlac River on August 29, 2026. Five passengers were in the SUV—one passenger, Nathaniel Dizon, managed to swim ashore while his four companions were swept downstream.
Rescuers first recovered the body of James Patrick Taborlupa in Barangay Carael, Dagupan City, Pangasinan, on August 31. Search operations also yielded the body of Shanen Tuhao, which rescuers also recovered in Bayambang on Sept. 1, 2026.
Joint teams from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Air Force, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines lead the multi-agency response.
The Tarlac Police Provincial Office, Tactical Operations Group 3 of the Philippine Air Force, the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, the 522nd Engineer Construction Battalion, and the 7th Civil Military Operations Battalion of the Philippine Army have deployed personnel to the search zones. Additional support comes from the Tarlac POSO, the MDRRMOs of Capas, Concepcion, and Victoria, the Tarlac Filipino-Chinese Volunteers Fire Brigade, Deltacom, and the Pangasinan PDRRMO.
Yap extended deepest sympathies to the families affected by the disaster.
“Sa mga pamilyang nawalan ng mga minamahal sa buhay, taos-pusong nakikiramay ang buong Lungsod ng Tarlac sa inyong matinding pagdadalamhati,” Yap stated in a social media post.
Authorities called on the public to sustain prayers for the safe recovery of Collado and for the safety and resilience of the deployed rescue workers and volunteers.
