Boy, 6, who drowned in Mabolo found in Talisay

CEBU, Philippines – The body of a six-year-old boy who fell into the Lahing-Lahing River in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City, last Sunday afternoon, was discovered yesterday morning in the seawaters off Talisay City.

Last Sunday around 2 p.m. Jerry Villacorda Sumampong, a Grade 1 student, was home watching television when his friends went to their house and invited him to go swimming with them in the river.

Jerry went with his friends and his father Jilmar Sumampong said he was just shocked later on when one of his neighbors ran to their house to report his son had slipped into the river, gone under the water and not surfaced. He rushed to the creek and dove into the water to look for his son but never found him.

Jerry's mother Marites said she saw her son go under. She added one of his friends tried to help him but his hand kept slipping.

Later, Jilmar and Marites went for help from barangay tanods and from the Coast Guard but claimed he was not given a direct response because it was already too dark.

The Coast Guard eventually came around 6 a.m. yesterday but still could not find the body. They believed that the body was taken by the current going north around Mandaue City.

But around 8 a.m. yesterday, policemen from Talisay City called the Mabolo Barangay Hall to report that the body of a child had been caught in a fisherman's net off Barangay Tangke.

The distance was estimated to be 12 kilometers away from where the child fell into the water.

Mabolo barangay officials were the ones who reported it to the family of the child and the parents went to Talisay where they were able to confirm the body was that of Jerry.

The cadaver was brought to Cebu Memorial Funeral Homes for autopsy then taken to the Sitio Kalinawan chapel in Barangay Mabolo.

Mayor Michael Rama has assured that the Cebu City government will provide financial assistance to Jerry's parents, although he refused to say how much will be given.

"Mao man g'yud na ang naandan nga kon dunay mahitabo mohatag man g'yud og tabang ang City Hall," said Rama when he was interviewed by the reporters after the boy's body was fished out from the sea. - Joey Cindy M. Semblante and Karen P. Ceniza, USJR Mass Communication interns with Niña G. Sumacot and Rene U. Borromeo/BRP (FREEMAN)