Remains of missing toddler found after Typhoon Tino

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — The remains of a two-year-old boy who went missing during the onslaught of Typhoon “Tino” in Negros Occidental in November last year were found two months later in Hacienda Taborda, Barangay Robles, La Castellana, on Tuesday.

Police Maj. Romulo Gepilango, chief of the La Castellana Municipal Police Station, said a resident discovered the child’s skeletal remains after noticing the cord of his electric drill partially buried in the soil.

Gepilango said that when the resident pulled the cord, a human skull and a purple sando shirt with a yellow neckline and shoulder lining surfaced.

Police coordinated with families of missing persons, and the victim’s mother positively identified the remains as those of her son based on the clothing.

Police said the mother reported that her son was swept away by floodwaters during the typhoon at about 7 a.m. on Nov. 4, 2025.

The remains were later turned over to the victim’s family.

Typhoon “Tino” battered Negros Occidental, particularly its southern towns, and also affected neighboring Negros Oriental, leaving 96 people dead and 40 others missing in the two provinces.

The figures were based on final data from the Office of Civil Defense – Negros Island Region, which coordinated disaster response and post-typhoon assessments across the region.