Lady lawyer drowns during picnic in Abra

The legal community in Ilocos provinces is mourning the death of a lady lawyer who drowned on Saturday, February 24, 2024, during a picnic in Abra province.. INQUIRER FILES

LAOAG CITY, ILOCOS NORTE — The legal community in Ilocos provinces is mourning the death of a lady lawyer who drowned on Saturday, Feb. 24, during a picnic in Abra province.

In a report on Sunday, the Abra police identified the victim as Princess Caroline Nichole Ibarra, 31, from Sinait town in Ilocos Sur.

Police said that while at a picnic in Calm Spring in Peñarrubia town, the victim asked her driver Voltaire Salvador to accompany her at around 5 p.m. in a nearby spring to take photographs.

According to the police’s initial investigation, when the victim was swimming in the spring, which was estimated to be two-and-half-meter deep, the driver went away to give her privacy. But when Aquino went back to check on her, he saw the lawyer already drowning,

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Aquino rescued Ibarra and rushed her to a nearby hospital. But the lawyer died before reaching the medical facility.

Ibarra, who was the Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court Branch 13 in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, was a graduate of University Northern Philippines (UNP) College of Law in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur in 2020.

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“Our Law Community mourns the untimely demise of one of our [alumni],” UNP said in a social media post.

The University also paid tribute to the life of the young lawyer, noting that she was “adored by her classmates in law school, and she was an inspiration to countless Juris Doctor students.”