Help find this missing UP student

On the morning of January 12, 18-year-old Ian Jasper Calalang left their Cainta home to register for the second semester at UP (University of the Philippines). At around 8:30 am, he texted his parents to inform them that he had just arrived at the Diliman campus. That was the last his family heard from him.

Attempts to call his mobile phone were only met with “…cannot be reached” messages, according to one of Calalang’s aunts, Yhang H. Lindayag.

Calalang, a freshman student at the UP College of Engineering, stands 5’4″ in height and weighs about 130 lbs. When he left their house on January 12, he was wearing black pants with a white t-shirt and white shoes.

On January  16, UP issued an official statement confirming Calalang’s disappearance. They also assured the public that the university administration had mobilized all security units to conduct a search, including the school’s security guards and the SSB (Special Services Brigade). The administration has also coordinated with QCPD (Quezon City Police Department) and UP Diliman’s barangay officials. Unfortunately, the search so far has not yielded any results.

UP has also assisted Calalang’s parents in viewing CCTV (closed circuit television) footage of the enrollment activities but again, this didn’t result into any leads. The university’s Office of the Chancellor, meanwhile, stated that upon reviewing their records, they found that Calalang was not even able to enroll.

The missing student’s family are thus requesting public assistance on the matter. The family can be reached via these cell phone numbers: 0932-222-0864 or 0917-339-0488.

The university also posted this appeal on their official statement: “Anyone with information that might help locate Ian can call Atty. John Baroña, UP Diliman Chief Security Officer, at 981-8512 (landline) or 0917-8614694 (mobile). All calls will be treated with confidentiality.”