3 children drown in construction pit in Cebu

CEBU CITY — Three children drowned on Saturday in a water catchment pit inside a construction site in Barangay Pitalo, San Fernando, some 30 kilometers south of Cebu City.

The San Fernando police identified the victims as siblings Ringgo Cañeda, 10, and Rodrigo Jr., 7, and their cousin TJ Dizon Ybañez, 7, all of Sitio Lakaraw in Barangay Pitalo.

SPO1 Rolando Bastida, of the San Fernando Police Station, said Ringgo asked permission from their mother to go for a swim with Rodrigo but did not say where.

“The mother did not expect that her sons would go to the construction site of a new subdivision in their area. There is a hole there to store rainwater,” said Bastida in a phone interview.

Cebu has been experiencing light to moderate rain since Friday because of the southwest monsoon enhanced by tropical depression Fabian.

Bastida said a backhoe was used to scoop the remains of the three children who were brought to the Carcar Provincial Hospital where they were declared dead. CBB/rga