THE Police Regional Office (PRO) in Western Visayas will conduct an investigation on the death of a police trainee in Bacolod City on October 10.
Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, director of PRO-Western Visayas, said this is to ascertain the complete facts of the incident.
On Tuesday night, Frenz Galen Frades, 22, of San Jose, Antique was rushed to Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital when he felt ill and dizzy after finishing their physical exercises at the Regional Training Center (RTC)-Western Visayas in Bakyas, Barangay Mansilingan.
Frades died the following day at the hospital due to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) status epilepticus, a seizure and brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation.
He was among the 647 members of Public Safety Basic Recruit Course (PSBRC) Class 2018-01, who took oath in Iloilo City Monday, October 8.
Frades was staying at the RTC for a six-month training.
Bulalacao, in a press statement, said that "while PRO-6 Health Service ensured that our police recruits are physically fit for training and that the RTC-6 observed the prescribed process of training for PSBRC, we are saddened to confirm that one of our police recruits passed away.”
Initial findings were “heat stroke vs. subarachnoid hemorrhage” and the cause of death was later confirmed to be HIE, Bulalacao said.
We are extending our sincerest sympathy to the family of Police Officer 1 Frades and we are assuring them that all benefits and claims due to his heirs will be processed and be given the soonest time possible, Bulalacao said.
While it is presumed that Frades was physically fit for the training as endorsed by the Health Service after undergoing the required medical tests, we will carefully investigate this incident to prevent the occurrence of the same in the future, the PRO-6 top cop said.
Bulalacao said, "we all know that police training is a rigorous process and at times, involve risks, we assure the public that all due diligence and care are being exercised in the conduct of screening and training to prevent the same and similar incidents from happening."
We will provide additional information once the investigation has been completed, he added.