Boy drowns in Las Piñas river

A nine-year-old boy drowned while swimming in the murky waters of a Las Piñas City river last Monday, local police said yesterday.

Police Officer 2 Albert Arevalo, case officer, said victim Cairoding Sarip, a resident of Basa 2 Compound, Zapote, Las Piñas decided to take a dip in the river located at the boundary of Zapote and Bacoor, Cavite.

Initial investigation disclosed at around 4 p.m. last Monday, Sarip and his playmate Carid Cassad, 9, went to the river below the Centennial Bridge, removed his shirt and pants before jumping into the river.

Cassad began to worry when his friend did not surface and ran back to their community for help. Residents were able to recover the victim’s body past 5 p.m. and brought him to the St. Dominic Medical Center where the doctors attempted to revive him.

The attending physician pronounced the boy dead at around 6:05 p.m. The victim’s father refused to subject the body to an autopsy, saying it was against Muslim tradition. He immediately brought the remains to their mosque.

Cesar Moralos of the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) of the Las Piñas police said the water below the Centennial Bridge is very dirty and filled with silt.

"There is a possibility that the victim might have gotten his feet stuck in the silt underwater until he lost consciousness. Very few people swim in that river because it is really dirty," Moralos said.

In Manila, two bodies turned up almost simultaneously in separate places in Manila yesterday, with both fatalities bearing multiple stab wounds.

Police said the victims remain unidentified since no papers or IDs were recovered.

Commuters found the first victim at about 6 a.m. at the northbound lane of the Bonifacio Drive near the Anda Circle in Intramuros, Manila.

Police described the victim as between 25 and 30 years old, 5’5 in height, slim and clad in red and white striped sleeveless shirt, a pair of khaki short pants. He sustained stab wounds in the chest and abdomen.

Investigators said the victim could have been dead for several hours since the body was already stiff and cold when found.

Some three hours later, another body was discovered by residents floating in an estero in Gunao street, Quiapo, Manila.

Police said the body, which bore multiple stab wounds, was already in an advanced state of decomposition.

The victim was described as in his early 30s, at least 5’4, wearing maong short pants.

Residents near the creek told police they have not noticed any commotion in the area during the past days. They also said they did not recognize the victim.

Police brought the body to the Popular Funeral Homes. – Evelyn Macairan, Nestor Etolle, Edu Punay