By Felipe V. Celino
ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The case of a missing 46-year-old seafarer who resided in Dolores village, Dumalag, Capiz remains a mystery as even so-called psychics failed to locate him or his remains.
Police Major Leomindo Tayopon, Dumalag Municipal Police Station chief, said a TV show host-cum-psychic arrived with a team to help look for Marnel Bulahan.
Bulahan, a native of Brgy. Manapao in Pontevedra, Capiz but married a woman from Dumalag, has been missing for six months already.
Tayopon said that after a ritual conducted Sunday morning at Brgy. Dolores, the psychic identified as Santino pointed to a room in their house where the seafarer was possibly buried.
But not a bone or piece of his clothing was found in the area.
On Monday, another psychic from Metro Manila pointed to a riverbank at Dolores village as Bulahan’s “resting place” but his family ended up empty handed.
Tayopon said they will continue their search for Bulahan with help from the K9 Unit of the Philippines Coast Guard after the failed psychic exploration.
The police chief said residents gave them a lot of information that could help in their investigation.
Tayopon said they inspected on February 11, 2021 the place where Bulahan was last seen alive on October 6, 2020.
Tayopon added that they will not stop until the family finds out what happened to Bulahan.
Police initially conducted a Search and Retrieval Operation for 13 days since Bulahan went missing.
The search included personnel of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO)-Dumalag, PDRRMO-Capiz, Philippine Coast Guard-Capiz, BFP-Dumalag, Dumalag PNP, local officials of Barangay Dolores and other volunteers.
The family in October last year sought the help of the authorities as they believe that he is still alive.
Rosemarie Bulahan, 69, of Brgy. Manapao, Pontevedra, asked help from Pontevedra Mayor Esteban Contreras to help them find her son Marnel who allegedly drowned while crossing the river.
Rosemarie said their family also sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation and other concerned government agencies to find the victim, whether dead or alive.
She said their family does not believe that he drowned because the victim knows how to swim being a seafarer.
She added that her son may have been abducted and killed but his body was never recovered despite massive search and retrieval operations conducted by several volunteers.
Bulahan, who went home to the Philippines in January 2020, was last seen Oct 6, 2020 in his poultry and piggery farms. He was wearing black short pants, green sando, and white pair of boots.
His family offered a PHP50,000 reward to whoever could find him. The municipal government of Dumalag added another P50,000 reward.
The Bulahan family said any information on the victim’s location could be sent to cellular phone numbers (920) 876-9124 and (916) 754-2193.
