The Pangasinan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) is urging parents or guardians to prohibit children from swimming especially in floodwaters following the drowning incidents involving minors over the weekend. In a radio interview on Monday, PDRRMO operations and training head Vincent Chu said although there is no longer a typhoon cyclone wind signal in the province, waters from upstream continue to go down, causing strong currents in rivers, lakes, and seas. The southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Egay during the past few days also caused rough seas. “Since we are citizens who are resilient and are happy people, we tend to enjoy small things even amidst calamities but we are reminding everyone to still take precautions,” Chu said. Based on the report by the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office on Monday, three drowning cases were recorded over the weekend. The victims, all boys, were a nine-year-old from Barangay Tambobong, Dasol town; a seven-year-old from Barangay Bocboc West, Aguilar town; and a 12-year-old from Barangay Anambongan, Basista town. The victim from Dasol town was reportedly playing with some friends along the seashore when he was carried by strong water currents. The boy was rescued by police personnel monitoring the area and brought to the hospital but he was pronounced dead upon arrival. The victim from Aguilar town drowned after he was carried by strong floodwater currents along a road in their village. “Investigation disclosed that the victim was invited by his uncle to wash his tricycle on the barangay road which is submerged in flood. While there, the victim and other minors swam in the flood. However, the victim slipped on the edge of the road near the culvert where a strong current of water flowed,” the police reported. Personnel of the Aguilar Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office conducted a rescue operation and brought the victim to the hospital but he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Meanwhile, the victim in Basista town drowned while swimming in a fishpond with some friends. Residents retrieved the boy but physicians at a local hospital could not revive him.
Source: Philippines News Agency
