4 drown in Bulacan fish port

HAGONOY, Bulacan – Four people, two of them teenagers, drowned at a river fish port on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 21), according to a belated report.

The bodies of 17-year-old boys Jonas Florentino and Paul Andrew Reyes, and of Oliver Ramos and Robert Silvestre, all from Barangay (village) Sto. Rosario, were fished out on Wednesday (Aug. 22), according to the Bulacan provincial disaster risk reduction and management office.

Florentino dove into the shallow end of the river to catch fish that fell off a container around 5 p.m.

But when he failed to surface, his friends Reyes and Ramos, 20, also dove in to search for him about 8 p.m.

The bodies of Reyes and Ramos were found about 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

During the retrieval operations, Silvestre also dove into the water in search of Florentino and was found dead 15 minutes later.

Florentino’s remains were recovered at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Liz Mungcal, Bulacan PDRRMO chief, said the cemented floor of the fish port underwent upgrading, leaving open a tunnel where children and residents venture to catch fish that fall off the port.

Ramsey Reyes, a member of the Bulacan rescue team, said that that shallow area was filled with mud and debris.