Senior Superintendent Arsenio Piñacate, Palawan police director, identified the victim as Joana Crisostomo, 9, a Grade 3 pupil of the Panalingaan Elementary School in Rizal town.
Reports said Joana and her 11-year-old brother Christopher were walking home after watching a movie at the house of a certain Juanito Abajos, a few hundred meters away from their house in the same barangay at around 11 p.m.
On their way home, the siblings crossed the knee-deep Panalingaan River where Joana was dragged underwater by a crocodile.
Christopher sought help from the residents living near the vicinity. However, after searching for almost 24-hours, Joana’s severed head was found a few hundred meters away from the site.
Police and residents of the said barangay, however, could not determine the size of the crocodile which reportedly attacks farm animals in the area.
According to Piñacate it was the first time that a human was attacked by a crocodile.
Palawan is known for its crocodile farm that lures local and foreign tourists. — Arnel Ozaeta