After Efren Peñaflorinda, another pinoy was recognized as one of the Top 10 Heroes of 2009.

18-year-old Muelmar Magallanes, a construction worker who braved rampaging floods during Tropical Storm “Ondoy” to save the lives of 30 relatives and neighbors only to lose his own life has been named one of Time magazine’s top 10 heroes of 2009.

TIME magazine has this to say about Muelmar:

“[B]y 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 evacuated his family to higher ground while the overflowing river is swallowing their house in Barangay Bagong Silangan in Quezon City. After making sure his parents and siblings were safe, Magallanes went back to help their neighbors who were trapped on their rooftops.

According to reports, Magallanes managed to save 30 people including a 6-month-old girl who was about to be swept away in a Styrofoam box.

The exhausted Magallanes was simply washed away by the strong current and his body was found the following morning.

Aside from Magallanes, Time also cited Afghan journalist Sultan Munadi, banker Leonard Abess, activist Tan Zuoren, University of California police officers Lisa Campbell and Ally Jacobs, civilian police officers Kimberley Munley and Mark Todd, Mike Perham, Neda Agha-Soltan, ship captain Richard Phillips who escaped from Somali pirates, and pilot Capt. Chesley Sullenberger who landed his crippled jetliner safely in the Hudson River in New York City.