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Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Cadette found dead in PMA swimming pool (10:04 am)
BAGUIO -- A 4th class cadette of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) was found dead floating in the academy’s swimming pool Monay afternoon, barely two days after she was officially recognized as a regular members of the Cadet Corps Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Mary Rose Cabuenas Nabong, 22, of Purok 4 Guindapunan Catbalogan, Samar, with serial number C-07199, was first noticed to be missing after a head count was made following a flag retreat at 5 p.m. Monday.
Initial investigation made by the Baguio City Police Office Station 4 revealed that the victim drowned while she and other classmates were having their intramural practice.
Police quoted witnesses as saying that it was customary for everybody to stop whatever they were doing and stand still when the siren blares within the PMA during flag retreat every 5 p.m.
“Right after the retreat, the cadets all joined a mess formation and it was only when they were undergoing a head count that Nabong was missing,” said SPO1 Roland Gines, deputy investigator of BCPO station 4.
This prompted several of her classmates to return to the PMA Athletic Complex to look for her, only for them to find her uniform, towel, and her foot ware beside the pool, where she left them earlier.
“Since the water in the pool was not very clear at that late hour, they did not noticed her inside the pool right away because she was in the portion that was about 12 feet deep and she was not seen floating,” Gines said.
Marine Major Edgard Arevalo, PMA spokesman, added that “when they failed to find her in the vicinity of the pool area, cadet-members of the swimming corps squad (varsity team) drove into the pool to search for her and after three dives, one of the cadets spotted Nabong at the bottom of the 12-foot deep of the swimming pool. With the help of other cadets, they were able to bring her to the surface.”
“Another cadet trained to do cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempted to revive her, while others hailed the nearby ambulance on standby at the Athletic Complex,” he added.
Nabong was rushed to the Fort del Pilar Station Hospital and the doctors and several other staff members still tried to revive her for about 40 minutes but their efforts proved futile.
“The medical officer-on-duty, Captain Arsenio dela Rosa, declared her dead at about 6:20 p.m. PMA authorities have already informed the cadet’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Nabong, about the death of their daughter,” Arevalo revealed.
Her body was transferred to La Funeraria Paz morgue after a post-mortem autopsy examination was conducted.
“Although we cannot discount the possibility of foul play in cases such as this, it was very unlikely to be the case here because this happened while it was still broad daylight, so we filed this incident under accidental drowning or accidental death,” Gines stressed. Sun.Star Baguio
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