(Update) 10 Makiling hikers rescued

What started out as an attempt to climb the highest peak of scenic Mt. Makiling in Laguna province almost ended in tragedy for 10 high school students, who were rescued Saturday morning. Radio station dzRH reported that rescue teams found the 10 junior high school students, aged 14 to 15, in a sandy area near a river in the mountain early Saturday morning. "We’re okay, there’s no problem. We just got lost," Charmaine Bautista, one of the rescued students said in Filipino over dzRH radio. The 10 students (not six as initially reported) are from the Los Baños National High School. They said they heard rescuers in the area Friday night and called out but were not heard. Charmaine said she and her schoolmates were forced to spend the night in a sandy area near a river. The dzRH report said that when they were rescued, even the male students cried for joy. Initial investigation showed the students planned to climb Peak 1, the mountain’s highest point, when they went hiking there Friday. The peak is near a mud spring. Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems (MCME) director Portia Lapitan earlier identified six of the students as Aldwin Sunga, Charmaine Bautista, Erlyn Banasihan, Reagan Nagahino, Bessie Lyn Lapitan, Maria Ruth Salazar, and Rica Marie Aquino. A dzRH report identified three more as Regaino Lagajino, Arlene Palasijan and Jessalyn Lapitan. Earlier, several teams of rescuers fanned out at the mountain Saturday to search for the high school students who lost their way while hiking in the area. The high school students, aged 14 and 15, sent text messages to their friends Friday night that they were "safe,""but failed to respond to calls from their parents. "The last communication was at 6 p.m. Friday. Until this time we have not received word from them. We have tried texting them," Lapitan said in an interview on dzMM radio. She said that as of 6 a.m. Saturday, volunteers from the Lyceum of the Philippines and University of the Philippines College of Forestry had joined the search for the students. Citing reports reaching her, she said the six had no adult chaperone with them and initially told their parents they were just going to see the botanical gardens. Radio dzRH reported that as early as 2 a.m. Saturday, students at the UP Los Baños campus reported receiving text messages from the six that they are in "safe condition." It said rescuers from the municipal government started a search operation for the six early Saturday. Makiling is an inactive volcano that rises to 1,090 meters above sea level. The UP Los Baños is its designated caretaker. - GMANews.TV