8 dead as Holy Week parties turn tragic in Northern Luzon

TUGUEGARAO CITY — Eight people, three of them children, drowned in separate incidents in Cagayan and Pangasinan provinces during the Holy Week break, according to police reports.

Kent Santos, 23, a construction worker, drowned when he and his friends were swept by the strong current while swimming on Good Friday at the Pozorobo beach in Barangay San Vicente in Sta. Ana town, Cagayan.

They were among hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts who converged at Pozorobo for the Partakan Festival, a private event. Santos’ body was found in nearby Anguib beach on Easter Sunday.

Still missing

Also on Friday, Rowel Trinidad drowned after taking a dip at the Duba cave and lagoon at Barangay San Miguel in Baggao town, also in Cagayan.

In Isabela province, four people drowned while swimming at the Cagayan River in the cities of Ilagan and Cauayan and the towns of Angadanan and Reina Mercedes.

As of Sunday, rescuers were still looking for Rexie Tumbaga, 21, who went swimming with friends on Black Saturday in Barangay Viga in Angadanan.

In Reina Mercedes on Saturday, a Grade 10 student drowned after diving in a deep portion of the Cagayan River at Barangay District 1.

“That part of the river has been declared off-limits to swimming but there are groups of teens who refuse to heed our warnings,” said Chief Insp. Michael Esteban, the town’s police chief.

Body found

On Saturday, residents in Cauayan City recovered the body of Abel Abisado, 30, who was reported missing on Maundy Thursday, after he swam in the Cagayan River in Barangay San Antonio.

A 3-year-old girl drowned during a family picnic along the banks of Pinacanauan River at Barangay Allinguigan 1st in Ilagan on Saturday morning.

Also on Saturday in Laoac town in Pangasinan, a 4-year-old girl from Baguio City died shortly after she was retrieved from a swimming pool in a resort in Barangay Turko.

In Sual town, a 10-year-old girl died before reaching the Labrador Community Hospital, after she was found unconscious at the bottom of a pool in Fila Falls in Barangay Camagsingalan. —Melvin Gascon and Gabriel Cardinoza