2 drown in Isabela during Holy Week – police

JONES, Isabela – A 19-year-old helper and a two-year-old boy drowned in separate incidents here over the weekend, police said.

Col. Mariano Rodriguez, Isabela police director, said farm helper Winston Victoriano drowned when he jumped into the Cagayan river as he tried to evade village watchmen in Barangay Dalibubon on Black Saturday.

Victoriano and his two companions were caught having a drinking spree despite the imposed community quarantine.

On Easter Sunday, the two-year-old boy drowned while swimming unattended in a creek in Barangay Bantay.

The boy’s parents had gone to the farm and left him with his older sister before the accident.

Emergency responders tried to save the boy and brought him to Primo Gaffud Community Hospital, but was later transferred to Santiago Adventist Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.