The Philippine Online Chronicles

Muelmar Magallanes, the 18-year-old construction worker who saved the lives of 30 people during the height of tropical storm Ondoy (international name Ketsana) has been named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 10 Heroes of the year.

“After hearing that a nearby river had jumped its banks, Magallanes helped move his family to higher ground as water engulfed his village,” says TIME on its website. “Then he went back to do the same for some 30 neighbors.”

Muelmar, with a nephew

Magallanes, a strong swimmer, repeatedly returned to the flood-washed streets of Barangay Bagong Silangan in Quezon City, to help people who had been trapped by the rising waters. Among the people he saved were a 6-month old baby adrift in a Styrofoam box and the child’s mother, Menchie Peñalosa.

“[He] came from nowhere,” Peñalosa said about the boy who brought them to safety. “And then he was gone.”

According to TIME, “by the time the storm had unleashed its full fury, bringing the worst rains the region had seen in more than 40 years, Magallanes had changed the lives of dozens of family members and neighbors—and lost his own.”

Magallanes was eventually swept away by the current. His remains were discovered the day after with 28 others who had died in the flood.

The Philippine Senate later honored Magallanes for his “bold and selfless act.”

Photos by Dennis Villegas. Some rights reserved.