11-month baby drowns in Bulacan flood

MANILA, Philippines - An 11-month-old baby was found dead, floating inside his family's flooded house in Malolos City, Bulacan, a local official said Wednesday.

Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad identified the baby as Jian Charles Centeno, resident of Barangay Canalate, which is among the villages hit with massive flooding.

The incessant monsoon rains forced authorities to release water from Bulacan's Ipo and Bustos dams, water from which cascaded to nearby villages.

Centeno's parents, Jaime and Carol, recounted that they left the boy in the care of their 13-year-old daughter Kathrina before they left for the public market, Natividad said.

The baby was left unattended because his sister fell asleep.

A 53-year-old man identified as Lodigario Parado, meanwhile, also died of drowning in Meycauyan City, Bulacan.

Parado, reportedly a scavenger from Leyte, was a resident of Barangay Caingin which was also hit by severe floods.

The neighboring coastal town of Obando was placed under a state of calamity on Wednesday as it was left submerged in three to six feet of floodwaters aggravated by high tide.