Corpse still stuck in pipes

Health and sanitation workers have rushed to the scene to remove the remains of a man who drowned after falling into the water system of Manila Water Co. Inc., fearing the corpse could contaminate drinking water pumped to several areas of Metro Manila.

Despite their efforts the body of 19-year-old Randy Diaz remains stuck inside the water pipes.

It now would take divers and the removal of water from the pipelines of Manila Water just to be able to retrieve the corpse which has been there for four days.

The operation, which began last night, is still not an assurance, however, that the body would be recovered. Manila Water officials admitted that the plan to flush the body out to the unused San Juan reservoir, is "not working" and has wasted about one hundred million of liters of water.

"We exerted all efforts to retrieve the victim’s body. We will now plug a portion of our pipeline to de-water it and send divers there to manually get the body out," Ranulfo Habaluyas of Manila Water’s corporate communications said.

At the same time, officials of the water concessionaire downplayed reports that their water could be contaminated, calling the scare as "exaggerated."

"It is very negligible. A single body stuck in the main pipeline cannot infect the entire water supply. The volume of water and the adding of more chlorine is enough to disinfect it," said Jun Calaman, general manager of Manila Water’s quality and regulation department.

He said in an interview that Manila Water and the Department of Health have set up at least 17 sampling points in many parts of San Juan and Quezon City "just in case."

"This is to ensure the public that the water they are receiving are safe and potable. We are monitoring the residue chlorine hourly while water samples are collected every four hours," Calaman said in an interview.

He stressed that this will continue until they have finally recovered the victim’s body.

Manila Water Corporate Communications director Joel Lacsamana said yesterday all efforts are being exerted to resolve the situation while assuring the public that drinking water remained safe.

"We have isolated the pipeline from the whole network of Manila Water. It is a big loss to us, but we cannot risk that a corpse is stuck down there while people are using the water system," Lacsamana said in a radio interview.

Manila Water earlier said it planned to flush out the body to a reservoir that is currently unconnected to the water system.

Manila Water services the eastern portion of Metropolitan Manila covering several cities and municipalities, including the financial district of Makati.

In a related development, Lacsamana admitted that the water supply could be vulnerable to possible terrorist attacks but said that there is no need for additional security.

"Our water mainlines are definitely secure. All of the facilities are bolted and locked. But the ventilation chamber in which the victim fell into was not meant for jumping," Lacsamana said in an interview.

Diaz drowned Saturday afternoon after the concrete slab he jumped on collapsed and plunged him into the main pipeline. The concrete slab served as the cover of the ventilation chamber.

Reports showed that Diaz was out picking fruits with five companions at the house of his relative Armando Isla located at 115 Bignay street, Barangay Quirino when the accident occurred at about 2:40 p.m.

Two air vent chambers are in the backyard of the house, around four meters from its rear wall. Diaz was picking mango and santol fruits from nearby trees and was seen jumping from the two-meter high concrete wall to the adjacent roof of the Manila Water building.