Lapses found in field trip tragedy

CITY OF MALOLOS—The Bulacan State University and a company hired to manage a school field trip had committed procedural lapses that may make them culpable for the Aug. 19 drowning of seven students at the Madlum Cave in San Miguel town, according to a fact-finding report that was released on Tuesday.

The report, made by a six-member team formed by university president, Mariano de Jesus, said the school allowed the field trip despite the fact that it was organized by a student organization and it was not intended to augment a classroom topic or requirement.

The Federation of Accelerating Students of Tourism (FAST), composed of students enrolled in the BSU College of Home Economics, arranged the trip to Madlum Cave as part of a school-wide celebration of Nutrition Week in July.

The trip was reset to August and was carried out by Adventours Exchange, which won a bid to handle the activity for FAST.

“During the testimony of the FAST teacher-advisers on Aug. 25 as well as during the testimony of the FAST officers on Aug. 28, it was noted that the subject travel order [needed to facilitate the field trip] was prepared not by CHE (the College of Home Economics) dean but by the student officers of FAST, under instructions from the FAST adviser,” the report said.

The team, headed by retired Bulacan judge and university law professor Manuel D.J. Siayngco, also observed that the school administration did not comply with a provincial ordinance that requires a chaperone to supervise every educational field trip.

The ordinance regulates educational field trips in the province. It was enacted to address the death of two high school students during a field trip in Tanay town, Rizal province, in 2013.

As a result of the lapses, the report said, the seven students died when they were engulfed by an unexpected surge of water as they crossed the Madlum River to reach the Madlum Cave. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon