Lanao del Norte in Mindanao (Image from Google Maps)
ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Philippines — A man who was reported missing on Sunday morning was found dead floating towards the mouth of Mandulog River here on Monday, May 17.
According to Veronico Echavez, chief of Barangay Hinaplanon, the body of Bernardo Sapinpin, 21, was found by workers of a coastal road construction project.
As the body was drifting towards Bayug Island, it was retrieved by a certain Junjun Taburado. The villagers then called authorities who, in turn, contacted Sapinpin’s family and brought them there to identify the body.
Mary Joy Francis, 20, Sapinpin’s live-in partner, said they were on a picnic in the Mandulog River in upland Barangay Bonbonon on Sunday.
Sapinpin, a resident of Barangay Dansolihon of Cagayan de Oro City, slipped on the rocks and was swept away by the current, prompting his companions to call for help.
Personnel of the Coast Guard and its auxiliaries immediately launched a search and rescue operation, to no avail.