CEBU, Philippines - Four children were drowned in a private swimming pool in Sitio Lotao, Barangay Labangon, Tabogon, Cebu Sunday evening.
Mary Ann Prescillas, 10, and her younger brother Ronel, 6; Negene Montuerto, 8; and Nelyen Mandaue, 8; were declared dead on arrival by the attending physician at the Severo Verallo District Hospital.
Senior Police Officer 1 Jesus Suan, investigator, said the victims left their homes around 5 p.m. Sunday after telling their parents that they were only going to look for fresh guavas in the neighborhood.
“Ang pananghid ra aning mga bataa kay mangita ra daw sila og bayabas. Mga alas-singko daw sila sa hapon nanglakaw ingon ilang mga ginikanan,” Suan said.
He said the children did not arrive home for dinner so their parents started to get worried and finally decided to look for them.
While the parents of the other victims looked around the neighborhood in search of their children, Suan said it was Eugene Montuerto, father of Negene, who decided to come to a private rest house hoping that his son might be there.
True enough, Eugene found Negene and his playmates already floating lifeless in the pool around 7 p.m.
Suan said that the rest house has no fence or gate so anyone could easily go inside.
He also said the house is located at the peak of a mountainous area and there were only few other houses surrounding it.
Initial investigation revealed that the rest house where the pool is situated is owned by Marvie Subing-Subing and her foreign national husband.
The couple already migrated to Australia and left their property to the care of Subing-Subing’s aunt, who lived several meters away from the rest house.
Suan said the caretaker was not around when the incident happened since she seldom visits the rest house.
Suan said that the children may have gone to the deeper part of the pool since the pool’s flooring was already slippery due to lack of cleaning.
“Ang flooring design man gud sa pool kay pa-slant. So while ang pikas nga bahin kay one foot ra, ang other end, which is ang lawom na nga dapit, kay one-and-one-half meters na ang gitas-on sa tubig,” he said.
Suan said autopsy showed the children have drowned for over an hour before they were found.
The police are currently conducting a follow-up investigation regarding the incident.—/RHM (FREEMAN)