Saturday, September 29, 2007 Resort owners face raps for boy’s death By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
CRIMINAL and civil charges will be filed before the Baguio City Prosecutor’s Office on Monday against the management of a riverside resort located in Naguilian, La Union, after its personnel allegedly prevented relatives of a drowning seven-year-old boy from rushing him to a hospital over a week ago.
The victim’s uncle and guardian said they also request for the closure of the resort, after it was found to be operating without any trained lifeguards, first aid equipment and personnel, and any environmental compliance clearance (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Edgar Bustamante, the complainant, said: “Establishments like this should not be allowed to operate, because aside from lacking any emergency personnel and equipment needed for the safety of their clients, it also appears that the said resort was issued a permit to engage in business for 2007, despite a certification from the DENR that its management never applied for nor was issued any ECC, which is a requisite for its operation.”
“To add insult to injury, instead of allowing us out of the resort after he was discovered, their personnel even stopped us from leaving and said that we should settle our bills there first despite the emergency situation,” he explained.
According to a report issued by Senior Inspector Joel Garcia, chief of the Naguilian Municipal Police Station, victim Jerico Talines Bustamante, 7, a grade one pupil and resident of Naguilian Road, Baguio City, drowned in Orchids Hill Resort located in Sili, Naguilian, La Union at around 2:30 p.m. of September 8.
The resort is reportedly owned and managed by Teresita Dumaguing, whose family members are said to be residents of Baguio City.
“An initial investigation conducted showed that the victim, together with his mother, Lolita, went swimming that day at Orchids Hill Resort. However, after a few minutes, the mother noticed her son was lost. After she made inquiries about the whereabouts of her child, they saw and recovered the victim at the bottom of the swimming pool in an area about four to five feet deep,” Garcia said.
Due to the lack of any lifeguards in the area, according to Bustamante, the boy was not saved from drowning and was subsequently pronounced as dead upon arrival in the Naguilian District Hospital by an attending physician.
According to a certification issued by Director Annie Gonzales-Tesoro of the Securities and Exchange Commission Baguio Extension Office, the Orchids Hill Resort & Recreation Corporation “is in active status” as a stock corporation and its board of directors are residents of Rainbow Hills Subdivision, Baguio City and Imelda, Naguilian, La Union.
