3 brothers drown in flooded basement

MANILA, Philippines - Three brothers drowned a few hours apart in at least 10 feet of stagnant water that accumulated in the basement of a condemned building in Escolta, Manila Wednesday.

The bodies of Edwin Gardigo, 34; Arnulfo, 30, and Marlo, 20, were retrieved by personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection and Metro Manila Development Authority yesterday afternoon after several hours draining the water at the basement of the Gonzalo Puyat building, home of the famous Syvel’s store in the ’70s.

According to the victims’ elder brother, Erwin, who serves as caretaker of the building, Marlo – who lives with him – went missing at around 1 p.m. Wednesday while fixing a chicken coop at the dry portion of the basement. Thinking that Marlo could have slipped into the water, Edwin went underwater but failed to surface. Erwin said he called up Arnulfo from Imus, Cavite, who also dived into the water upon arriving at the building past 6 p.m. He also did not surface.

It was only then that Erwin and his mother, Editha, sought assistance from the police, who called up the BFP and the MMDA.

The first to be retrieved was the body of Arnulfo, followed by Edwin, then Marlo. The three brothers were already dead.

Erwin told police the building basement has been submerged under at least 10 feet of water since he started work as a caretaker in 2008. The water refused to subside, and the floor and walls of the basement have become too slippery, he said. He only picks his way through the drier parts of the basement.

The victims’ grieving mother, a widow, told The STAR she could not accept the sudden death of her three sons. She said she does not know where to get money for burial expenses. She has nine sons and a daughter, with two of her other sons having died years ago.

Senior Police Officer 2 Paul Dennis Javier said he will check if the building owner, who is yet to be identified, may be held liable for the deaths.