Student, 19, falls to death from condo

MANILA, Philippines – A student of Adamson University fell to her death while posing for photos on the roofdeck on the 20th floor of a condominium building in Ermita, Manila on Tuesday.

Kristina Marie Pagalilauan, 19, a third-year mass communications student and resident of Eternity street, Compil 3, San Pedro, Laguna, died of multiple fractures and bruises.

Pagalilauan’s friend, Jonea Ani, told Manila police investigators the victim was standing on the parapet of the roofdeck of the Suntrust Parkview’s Dahlia Tower 3 Condominium and requested her her picture to be taken using Ani’s mobile phone.

Ani said she told Pagalilauan to get down from the ledge.

But as she was scanning the photos on her phone, she saw Pagalilauan on the window molding behind the wall.

The victim lost her footing and fell.

Pagalilauan was supposed to ask her boyfriend, who lives on the fourth floor of the condominium, to bleach her hair but Ani invited her to the roofdeck to watch the sunset.

Meanwhile, engineer Danilo Domingo, vice president of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, said the building administration should be strict in implementing rules on staying at the roofdeck to prevent similar incidents from happening.

Police Officer 3 Alonzo Layugan said he is investigating if the management of the condominium could be held liable for the death of Pagalilauan “because there were no barriers in the place where she fell.”

“There were no precautionary measures placed on the rooftop, which makes it dangerous to those who go up there,” he said.

He said the condominium had no medics to attend to the victim when the accident happened. – With Ghio Ong