Three young brothers drowned in a river while doing the laundry last Sunday in barangay Saksak, Aloguinsan town, southwest Cebu.
Rod Mar Flores, 8, and his brothers Reymart, 6, and Rafael, 4, were supposed to attend classes yesterday.
But they were found lifeless at the riverbank at past 1 p.m. last Sunday.
The police suspect that the boys took a dip in the river, about six feet deep, after doing the laundry.
However, they did not know how to swim.
Dr. Lyndon Villegas, the town’s health officer, said the brothers died of asphyxia by accidental drowning.
Initial investigation revealed that their 35-year-old mother Maribeth asked the boys to wash their soiled clothes at the river about 500 meters from their shanty.
Maribeth just gave birth to her fifth child while her husband, Rey, was in Leyte to canvass cooking pots which he could sell for a living.
Maribeth, her newborn son and her 3-year-old son, stayed at home while her three sons left the house around 11 a.m. and went to the river.
But Maribeth decided to look for her three sons when they didn’t come home for lunch.
She asked for help from her neighbors and went to the river around 1 p.m.
They were surprised to see Rodmar, Reymart and Rafael, lying lifeless at the riverbank.
PO2 Somolon Cardoza of the Aloguinsan police said the weather last Sunday was fine and it did not rain.
Cardoza said Maribeth and her neighbors decided not to bring the three boys to the hospital.
Their remains lie in ther home in barangay Saksak.