La Union fisherman missing, two kids drown

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union: The search and rescue for the missing fisherman continued on Wednesday after his fishing boat capsized in the coast here because of bad weather on Tuesday.

City Fishery and Aquatic Resource Management coordinator Florycel Obena told that Rodolfo Padilla, 50, of Catbangen village went missing at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Rubber and aluminum boats failed to reach possible sites because of big waves, so we asked the help of the Philippine Air Force and Office of Civil Defense for helicopters,” Obena said.

He added that they will continue the search using helicopters and close coordination with other agencies, including the police.

Padilla was reportedly wearing a black jacket and a blue raincoat when he went out to sail in spite of the bad weather condition early on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, two minors drowned in separate incidents in the provinces of La Union and Pangasinan on Monday.

In La Union, the body of Angel May Jaravata Carang, 7, of Barangay Subusob, Rosario town was found floating on the river in Barangay Alipang, Rosario.

Angel May and her friends went swimming but hours later, her friends noticed that she was missing and called rescuers and the police.

After a five-hour search, her body was seen through a concerned netizen’s Facebook post, floating a few meters away from their swimming area.

In Pangasinan, Lawrence Pizarro, 9, from Sitio Apalang, Barangay Luac in Bani town drowned in an almost sevenfoot deep pond near a rice field.

Lawrence, with his younger sister Maria Alexa, 8, and friends Jessa del Rosario and two other unidentified minors, went to the rice field where their grandmother and other farmers were planting rice.

While waiting for their grandmother, the children went to a small pond, about 100 meters away, to swim. About 30 minutes later, Jessa yelled for help as Lawrence was drowning.

He was retrieved from the pond but was declared dead on arrival at San Juan Medical Center in Bani.