Romanian tourist found dead in Ifugao

BAGUIO CITY—The body of a Romanian tourist who went missing on Wednesday while he was swimming in a pool of a waterfall in Banaue, Ifugao, was found by rescue workers on Saturday morning, government reports said.

Ifugao Gov. Eugene Balitang said George Sfintes, 23, was last seen at past
2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Tappiya waterfall in Barangay Batad, the village that hosts an amphitheater-like cluster of rice terraces and a major tourist destination in Banaue. The waterfall can be reached after a 30-minute trek from the Batad village proper.

Balitang and personnel of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in the Cordillera, however, could not say if Sfintes drowned, saying police investigation is ongoing to establish the cause of his death.

They also could not say if Sfintes was traveling solo or with a companion or a group in Ifugao.

OCD reports here said the Romanian Embassy had been informed about Sfintes’ death, but embassy officials, as of Saturday afternoon, had yet to reach his family.

The OCD said Sfintes’ body was taken to a funeral parlor in Nueva Vizcaya, more than 70 kilometers from Banaue.

Tourists, dominated by European backpackers, seasonally visit the centuries-old rice terraces in Ifugao. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) had declared five clusters of the rice terraces in the towns of Banaue, Kiangan, Hungduan and Mayoyao as a World Heritage Site.  Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon