On Easter Sunday: 8 kids drowned in Camarines Sur
By BM REPORTORIAL TEAM
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) in Camarines Sur reported that there were eight incidents of drowning in the province that happened during the observance of the Black Saturday (April 8) and Easter Sunday (April 9), this year.
In a situational report that the council released last April 10, this year, it was learned that all victims were minors who, like several hundreds of beachgoers in the province on those days, went to the beaches to cope with the hot summer weather.
In Barangay Dolo, San Jose Partido, it was reported that at around 9:30 in the morning of April 8, seven persons swam together on the sea, some minutes later, a victim’s relative have noticed that 5 members of the group were drowned and declared dead on arrival at the San Jose Medicare Hospital.
Also declared dead was a 16-year-old girl who was reported missing for several hours. Her lifeless body was retrieved at around 3:30 in the afternoon on the same day. Only one survived the tragic incident, who as of press time on Wednesday, was still undergoing medical treatment, the report said.
The fatalities: Rizza Hermosa, 17; Jhona Hermosa, 17; Ashley Rose Hermosa, 16; Jean Rose Pino, 12; Rhea Pino, 18; who are all residents of Brgy. Catagbacan, in Goa town and 2 others from Naga City: Rafael and Regine Pino who were 18 and 16 years old, respectively.
THE TRAGIC Black Saturday at Barangay Dolo in San Jose Partido. -Dodong Valencia
On April 9, this year, at Sitio Pinagpala in Barangay Balogo, Pasacao town, a boy named Rommel Bagadiong was found submerged in the seawater hours after he was left by his mother. The 8-year-old lad was reportedly enjoying the waves alone on the sea with his life-preserver until he was seen unconscious and being lifted by some people toward the shoreline. Personnel of the town’s Rural Health Unit and Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office rushed the victim to the Bicol Medical Center but was declared dead on arrival.
On the same day, in San Jose, Lupi, an 11-year-old lass who went swimming with her cousins suffered the same fate. She was given first aid by her uncle, but to no avail. Report said a cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the victim but was declared dead on arrival at the Sipocot District Hospital.
A near-drowning incident was also reported with a 6-year-old boy who could have been the victim. Based on the report, the young child who was playing on the waters of Atulayan Island in Barangay Nato in Sagñay after he was able to get away from the watchful eye of his parents was immediately transported to the town’s infirmary for medical attention.
On Easter Sunday, police registered same incident along the waters of Barangay Balogo, Pasacao, Camarines Sur that killed Rommel Bagadiong, 8 of San Cirilo, Pasacao, Camarines Sur.
The Philippine National Police has recorded 15 victims of drowning in Bicol during the observance of Holy Week. The figure is included in the 72 listed by the law enforcement agency who died in similar incident within the same period across the country.
Back to Camarines Sur, Lizel S. Macatangay, assistant regional director of the Philippine Information Agency who is also the agency’s concurrent head in Camarines Sur, said that the PDRRMC has been keeping a watchful eye on at least 52 resorts situated in different municipalities in an effort to prevent any incident of drowning.
The resorts monitoring is being undertaken in collaboration with the concerned LGUs, the Environment, Disaster Management, and Emergency Response Office (EDMERO) of the provincial government, national government agencies, Kabalikat Civicom, and other communication/radio groups.
“Resorts monitoring, based on the directive issued by Gov. Luigi Villafuerte and as stated in the Philippine Coast Guard Memo Circular on Safety and Security Requirements for beach resorts, has been decided to be implemented continuously especially in this time that the entire Bicol Region is bracing for typhoon Amang,” Macatangay said.
Hereunder the list of resorts placed under constant monitoring, which was released to newsmen last Monday (April 10). The list also contains data on the volume of customers (in percentage) occupying a specific resort on that day.