The youngsters were attending a seminar in a beach resort in Sitio Panibatuhan and went swimming in the turbulent waters of Morong Beach Resort shortly after they arrived from Manila.
The victims were members of the group Kapisanan ng mga Kabataan tungo sa Kaunlaran headed by Cezar Manalo of Bicutan, Taguig City.
Senior Superintendent Hernando Zafra, Bataan police director, identified the victims as Jun Hernandez, 26, of Malate, Manila; Basil Gamutin, 22, of 232 Wildcat Village, Fort Bonifacio, Makati City; Vandolf Mercado, 24, of 831 Coral St. Dagupan, Tondo, Manila; Henry Bukgayan, 32, of 2017 Linao St. Malate, Manila; Mark Arias Matias, 23, of Saballa St. Tondo, Manila and Patrick Isidro, 24, Block 9, Lot 14, Rizal St. Avella Compound, Mandaluyong City.
Rescued were Valerie Paredes, 22; Nilo Rama, 24; and Dennis Cantonia, 24, all residents of Malate, Manila.The survivors are now recuperating at the Mayor James Gordon Memorial Hospital in Olongapo City where they were brought for treatment by residents and other visitors at the resort.
The remains of the victims were brought to Funeraria de Leon for autopsy. Police said the strong undercurrent in Morong coastline facing South China is reportedly the cause of numerous drowning incidents in the past three years, including the death of 11 employees of a fast food chain in San Fernando City, Pampanga.
Three days earlier, a one-year-old baby boy Renz Angelo Miranda was also drowned in a river in Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, about half-kilometer away from the Morong Beach Resort in Sitio Panibatuhan. — With Ric Sapnu, AP