16-year-old drowns at Iloilo beach

[wpgmappity id=”449″]

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — A 16-year-old boy drowned and another was rescued in a beach resort in Tigbauan town in Iloilo on Sunday amid the celebration of the feast of St. John the Baptist.

John Vincent Dumago, 16, a college freshman from Iloilo City died while his classmate Rommel John Delcoro, 16, survived after they were swept by strong currents around 2:15 p.m. at the Coco Grove Beach Resort in Barangay Tan-Pael in Tigbauan, 25 kilometers south of this city.

Police Officer 2 Paulo Matunding, investigator of the Tigbauan police station, said the two victims were among a group of schoolmates who were having a party and celebrating the Feast of St. John the Baptist at the resort.

Residents near the resort came to the rescue of the victims but Dumago was pronounced dead on arrival at the Guimbal District Hospital where he was brought.

The feast of St. John the Baptist is traditionally observed by the Catholic faithful by going to the beach or by splashing water on revelers to symbolize the baptism of Jesus Christ by the saint.