MANILA, Philippines — The search for Filipino physician Dr. Juan Carlos Manalo has taken on greater urgency as the scale of the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet flood continues to grow, with hundreds confirmed dead and thousands still unaccounted for across the Himalayan border region.
Manalo, 30, a general physician from Tarlac City, has not been heard from by his family since Aug. 25 — just one day before a massive torrent of water, ice, mud and rock tore through communities and infrastructure along the Nepal-China border.
His family’s biggest clue is also one of the most troubling.
Manalo was traveling as part of a Kailashyatra pilgrimage connected with the Isha Foundation, and his group was last known to have been at the immigration facility in Gyirong County in Tibet, near the Nepal border. The border-crossing complex was among the areas devastated when the flood struck.
A final message — then silence
According to his sister, Chiara Manalo, Juan Carlos last contacted his family at 1:21 p.m. Philippine time on Aug. 25.
It was an ordinary “good morning” message.
Then communication stopped.
By the following day, the family learned that he had been near the immigration facility when the disaster unfolded. Nepal’s Department of Tourism later included Juan Carlos Manalo in an official list of people reported missing following the floods.
His family has since been trying to establish exactly what happened to him and the pilgrimage group.
As of the latest Philippine reports reviewed for this story, there has been no confirmed announcement that Manalo has been found or rescued. His family continues to wait for official information.
Who is Dr. Juan Carlos Manalo?
More details about the missing Filipino have emerged since the first reports of his disappearance.
GMA News reported that Manalo is from Tarlac City and graduated from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health in 2021. He has worked as a general physician and previously served as a physician-on-duty at the dialysis center of Tarlac Provincial Hospital.
Outside medicine, his family said he had developed a strong interest in yoga, meditation and spirituality.
He had been involved with the Isha Sadhguru community for several years and traveled to India in May for an extended retreat before later joining the Himalayan pilgrimage.
The journey eventually brought him toward Mount Kailash, one of Asia’s most sacred pilgrimage destinations.
The mountain, located in Tibet, is considered sacred in several religious traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Pilgrims traditionally travel around its base rather than climb the peak.
Pilgrimage group caught at the border
The Isha Foundation group’s presence near Gyirong has become a critical part of efforts to determine what happened.
Isha founder Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev said about 77 pilgrims were at the Nepal-China border immigration facility when the flood struck, according to a report carried by GMA News from AFP.
Video from the area showed an enormous mass of mud and debris crashing through the border complex.
Reuters reported that rescue teams eventually reached the badly damaged Gyirong crossing after roads leading to the facility were destroyed. Surveillance footage reviewed in coverage of the disaster showed floodwaters and debris engulfing buildings as people attempted to escape.
That destruction has made accounting for people who were inside or near the facility particularly difficult.
Disaster far worse than first reported
Early Philippine reports cited a death toll below 500.
The numbers have since climbed dramatically.
By Saturday, Aug. 29, the Associated Press reported that the combined toll in Nepal and Tibet had reached 633 dead, while nearly 3,000 people remained missing.
China had reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing on the Tibetan side. Nepal’s figures accounted for most of the remaining casualties.
Reuters similarly reported 626 confirmed deaths in Nepal and seven in Tibet, with approximately 2,426 people missing in Nepal and at least 558 in Gyirong County.
At least 540 foreigners were among those still missing, many of them pilgrims.
The figures remain fluid as authorities reconcile lists of missing residents, workers, tourists and pilgrims.
What caused such a devastating flood?
The disaster was not simply an ordinary monsoon flood.
Investigators examining satellite images and the devastated landscape have pointed to a glacier collapse that unleashed a massive flow of ice, rock, water and debris through Himalayan river systems.
The torrent then ripped through communities, bridges, roads, hydropower facilities and border infrastructure.
Reuters reported that the disaster destroyed buildings, bridges and power installations as the debris raced downstream. Authorities have also been monitoring upstream lakes because of concern that further releases of water could trigger additional flooding.
Bad weather temporarily forced Nepal to suspend some search-and-rescue operations on Saturday.
The country has since asked international partners for specialized assistance in areas including tunnel rescue, restoring transport and communications, identifying bodies and DNA testing.
More than 3,700 people had been rescued in Nepal by Saturday, according to AP, but rescue teams were still working through mud, destroyed roads and isolated mountain communities.
Philippine government coordinating with Nepal
The Philippine Embassy in New Delhi, which has jurisdiction over Nepal, and the Philippine honorary consulate in Kathmandu have been coordinating with Nepalese authorities regarding the missing Filipino.
Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio earlier confirmed that one Filipino was among those reported missing and said the person was not a resident of Nepal.
The Manalo family has also been reaching out to Philippine authorities and other contacts who may help obtain information from the disaster zone.
For the family, however, official casualty statistics cannot answer the question that matters most.
Where is Juan Carlos?
With survivors still being evacuated days after the disaster and thousands of names remaining unresolved, the family continues to hope that he may have escaped the destruction but has been unable to communicate.
Until authorities can determine what happened to the pilgrims who were at or near Gyirong when the flood arrived, Dr. Juan Carlos Manalo’s fate remains unknown.
And amid one of the Himalayan region’s deadliest disasters in years, his family’s search continues.
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