DOG’S BEST FRIEND. Mike Acejo, a 32-year-old lawyer (inset), returns to his flooded house in Provident Village, Marikina City, to save “Kiko,” his beloved Labrador. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
Unmindful of the danger posed by rampaging floodwaters, a man who had already reached higher ground went back to his house at Provident Village in Marikina City to rescue another member of his family: His dog.
Mike Acejo, a 32-year-old lawyer, had just escaped from the fast-rising floods that had inundated both houses and vehicles in the subdivision when he noticed that his 2-year-old Labrador, Kiko, had been left behind.
“I felt uneasy and uncomfortable without Kiko,” Acejo told the Inquirer in an interview.
Without hesitation, he and his father, Lorico, a retired city prosecutor, pleaded with rescue officials who were banning the reentry of people into the flooded subdivision to allow them to return to their house and fetch the dog.
“We are only after your safety,” a rescue official was overheard telling father and son.
Acejo, however, refused to give up. He went on to ask another rescue official who also refused. Undaunted, he kept on asking until one of them finally relented.
Accompanied by some rescue officials, Acejo got into a rubber boat and braved the rampaging floodwaters to retrieve Kiko.
At that time, the flood in the subdivision was waist-deep while in some parts, it was neck-deep, according to Danny del Castillo, an official of Barangay Tanong .
The Inquirer also learnt that the rubber boat which Acejo and the rescuers had boarded suddenly sprung a leak and water started seeping in as he and his companions went farther inside the subdivision. Fortunately, their mission was a success.
Upon his return to safer ground, the Inquirer asked Acejo why he had risked his life to retrieve his dog.
With a smile, he said: “I don’t know. I guess because he’s Kiko. He’s my dog.”