3 DROWNED ON EASTER Who’s keeping beaches safe?
A crowd of at least 3,000 last Easter near Mandaue’s side of the second Mandaue-Mactan Bridge compels the City’s disaster response office to send 2 ambulances, a fire truck, and 12 rescue workers, in case of emergencies. 3 people drowned in Argao, Talisay
Two children, both five years old, and an adult man drowned in separate incidents in Talisay City, Tuburan, and Argao on Easter Sunday.
Police identified the fatalities as April Ann Ragosata Tanriago, Mike Joseph Gomez, and Kenneth Joy Boltiador.
The accidents called attention to the need for trained rescue personnel in public beaches, especially on holidays like Easter when crowds usually fill these places.
In Mandaue City, for instance, some 3,000 to 5,000 per-sons went to the Pahara mini-park to swim under the Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge last Easter.
Felix Suico of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Man-agement Office (CDRRMO) said he would like swimming in that area to be regulated, considering that the sea currents there are strong.
Here’s how the accidents happened: At 4 p.m. last Sunday, Boltiador drowned Sitio Looc, Barangay Poblacion, Argao. The 41-year-old auto mechanic reportedly saved a child, before he himself drowned.
Around the same time, Gomez drowned in a swimming pool in a resort in Barangay Abalan, Tuburan. The boy was with his family, but wandered off and went into the pool for adults.
Ragosata, for her part, drowned in Mananga River in Ba-rangay Lagtang, Talisay City around 11 a.m. Investigators learned that the girl went with her father Edward, who wanted to catch fish.
Edward left his daughter alone and didn’t notice when the girl took a dip in the river.
He later found the child afloat but lifeless. Edward rushed his daughter to Talisay District Hospital, where Dr. Neri Ratcliffe declared her dead on arrival.
In Mandaue’s case, Suico said he will also recommend wa-ter sampling to see if it’s safe to swim in that area under the bridge, which is also near the Umapad dumpsite.
“Wala mi nag-expect nga ingon ato kadaghan naligo… pero di unta maayo kay wa ta kahibaw kung ang tubig safe ba (We didn’t expect that so many would go swimming there. We don’t know if the water is safe),” said Suico.
The CDRRMO sent two ambulances, a fire truck, and 12 personnel to Pahara in case of emergencies.
Suico said that no major incident happened, except that some persons had wounds in their feet after hitting some rocks underwater.
CDRRMO will meet with officials of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) to discuss whether it’s safe or not to swim in Pahara. Suico said he will make recom-mendations to the Office of the City Mayor once a result of the water sampling to be done by Cenro is available.
If it were entirely up to the CMRRMO, he said, he would recommend that the area be declared off-limits to swimmers.
“From low tide to high tide, the currents there are dan-gerous,” said Suico.
In the meantime, security personnel under the Department of General Services will be there to look after the people who visit Pahara.
In a separate interview, Atty. Mae Elaine Bathan, chief of staff of the mayor, said that the City will wait for the recommendation of the CDRRMO and will make an assessment after that.
“We will have to, of course, prioritize the safety (of the people),” said Bathan.