5 days after Nepal-Tibet flood, missing Filipino doctor's family still waits

Undated photo showing Filipino doctor Juan Carlos Manalo, who remains missing after the flash flood in Nepal. Meanwhile, people look at photographs of missing persons in the aftermath of flash floods, outside a hospital in Kathmandu on Aug. 30, 2026.

Chiara Manalo via FB; AFP / Manan Vatsyayana

MANILA, Philippines — The family of Filipino doctor Juan Carlos Manalo is appealing for help in finding him after he went missing following the catastrophic flash flood along the Nepal-Tibet border last week.

In an August 28 Facebook post, Manalo's sister Chiara said the family last heard from him on August 25 at 1:21 p.m. Philippine time, a day before the Aug. 26 disaster.

"Filipino doctor, Juan Carlos Manalo, has been missing and out of contact since the flash flood at the Nepal border last August 26, 2026," the post read.

Chiara said her brother had been traveling with an Isha Foundation Kailashyatra pilgrimage group. His group's last known location was the immigration office at Gyirong, on the Tibetan side of the China-Nepal border.

Nepali tourism authorities have identified Manalo as the lone Filipino among foreign nationals still unaccounted for after the flood.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Sunday night that it had yet to receive new information on Manalo's whereabouts. The Nepal Tourism Board first announced on August 27 the nationalities of the missing foreign nationals.

The Nepal Tourism Board said 289 foreign nationals had been rescued as of 6 p.m. Sunday, while 591 remained out of communication.

Anyone with information on Manalo's whereabouts may contact his family through the numbers provided in their public appeal:

• Jose Rodrigo Manalo: +63 917 302 3077
• Dinah Marie Manalo: +63 917 514 3465
• Chiara Manalo: +63 917 791 7849

The August 26 flood devastated communities and tourism routes along the Nepal-China border. Nepal's disaster agency reported 781 deaths and nearly 3,000 people still missing as of Sunday evening.