Tuesday, November 07, 2006 One more body fished out; death toll rises to 4
ANOTHER body of a young man was retrieved yesterday morning along the shoreline in White Road, Inayawan, Cebu City.
This brings the death toll of the river trekking accident to four.
The body of Michael Aguito, 22, of Lower Sto. Niño, Inayawan, who was earlier reported as Michael Dipay was found at 8:30 a.m. by Romy Sanchez, 44. Sanchez was gathering grass in the area when he found the body.
Personnel from the Philippine Air Force were the ones who retrieved Michael’s body and brought it to St. Francis Funeral Homes.
A flashflood in Talisay City’s Candulawan River swept off 12 young men last Saturday. Only one boy remains missing.
PO2 Edario Manatad, one of the responding investigators of the Homicide Section, said Michael’s body was already decomposing.
Michael’s mother Emily, 52, went to the area and identified her son.
Cebu City Schools Superintendent Leonilo Oliva wants the principal of Pardo National High School to look into reports that the 12 young men were about to hold fraternity initiation rites at the river.
Oliva, in a radio dyLA interview, said he ordered the school principal, through the grievance committee, to investigate.
He admitted, though, that school officials can only do so much. He appealed to parents to be watchful of their children and be aware of their whereabouts, especially when they are not in school.
This, Oliva said, has been a constant reminder during Parent-Teacher Association meetings, especially with the mushrooming of Internet cafes where most youth gather.
At the Cebu City Hall, Vice Mayor Michael Rama suggests the creation of barangay-based bodies that will monitor the conditions of all creeks, rivers, canals and other danger zones in each community.
This way, all its residents will be updated in case of heavy rains in the mountains that will bring flashfloods in the area.
Rama said he wants the Bantay Canal or Bantay Sapa, created in the barangay level, which will operate in a “bayanihan or volunteerism concept.”
He wants to meet all barangay officials to discuss the matter and be updated on their monitoring system.
Bantay Canal is separate from the Cebu City Coastal Management Board as it is barangay based but it will also coordinate with the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council, which is already a 24-hour monitoring body, said Rama.
Since the City lacks a specific budget to relocate the families living near the danger zones, all the City Government can do for now is regularly monitor these areas, he said.
In tomorrow’s City Council session, Councilor Gerardo Carillo will sponsor a resolution extending a financial assistance of P5,000 to P10,000 to the families of the four Cebu City residents who drowned in Talisay City last Saturday.
Assistance
The financial assistance will be charged to the City’s calamity funds.
“These families are victims of a tragedy and I think they are entitled to a financial assistance and other forms of aid, but we have to assess the situation first,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, Emily asked for financial assistance from the City Government for the burial expenses of her son.
She said she needs to raise P18,000.
The Aguitos family hails from Maracas, Lahug but Emily is staying in Inayawan because she is working as a caddie.
Michael is the fourth among the 12 siblings and worked as a vendor.
Emily said Michael would have wanted to become a teacher but because of poverty he was only able to finish high school and failed to proceed to college.
Emily took exceptions to report that her son was a fraternity leader, describing him to be a very good son and a responsible person.
Meanwhile, Arman Perez of the party-list group Bayan Muna said he will recommend to Rep. Teodoro Casiño to allocate P1.5 million for the construction of a bridge over Bulacao River.
The amount will be taken from Casiño’s Priority Development Assistance Fund.
Among Bayan Muna’s projects are the drainage system in Barangay Kamagayan, Cebu City and classrooms at the Pardo National High School and Florencio Urot Memorial National High School.
Bulacao Barangay Captain Celerino Cabangca said that while he welcomes the offer, he said initial estimates for the construction of the bridge have already reached P4 million.
Cabangca said he, together with other barangay officials, will try to ask from other congressmen and senators to provide additional amount. (JST/RCT/GAC/LCR)
