The Coast Guard Station Cagayan recovered the body of a drowning victim in Lal-lo, Cagayan on Saturday, April 8, 2023. (Photo from Coast Guard Station Cagayan)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday reported several, separate cases of drowning across the country during Holy Week, with at least two victims losing their lives in the waters.
On Black Saturday, the PCG assisted in recovering the body of 36-year old Mark Battad in the vicinity waters of Lal-lo, Cagayan.
Battad “was reported missing by his family at around 9 p.m. yesterday, 07 April 2023, due to a drowning incident,” said the PCG in a statement.
His body was found in an irrigation dam.
“Based on the investigation, the victim was on board an unmotorized boat and decided to swim into a deeper portion of the vicinity waters. He failed to get back on board his boat which drifted away until he went missing,” said the PCG.
Meanwhile, the CG Station Aurora also responded to a drowning incident on Good Friday.
“According to the information gathered, the victim named Carlito Badil, 36 years old, a resident of Bislig City, Surigao Del Sur was swimming with his co-worker, Japet Subang, 28 years old from Southern Leyte, in the waters of [Barangay] Lipat, Dipaculao, Aurora when they were caught by large waves and got separated. Japet Subang eventually makes it to the shore and survived. Carlito Badil, on the other hand, vanished in the waves,” said the CG Station Aurora.
The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Dipaculao eventually recovered the body of Badil along the shoreline of a resort.
Also on Good Friday, 19-year old Benjie Malaga was rescued by the CG Station Cagayan in Abulug, Cagayan.
While performing baywatch patrols as part of “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa and Summer Vacation 2023”, authorities sighted a person drowning in the vicinity waters of Abulug.
“The team immediately responded and successfully rescued the said individual. [Malaga] was then brought into shoreline to assess his condition and fortunately, he was in good physical condition,” said the CG Station Cagayan.
Several other local government agencies however, had individually reported drownings in their areas. In a Camarines Sur beach, five people drowned on Black Saturday morning. A 4-year old girl also drowned in a resort pool in Oriental Mindoro on Maundy Thursday.
INQUIRER.net had reached out to the PCG for the total number of recorded drowning incidents during Holy Week, but it has yet to respond as of writing.