TWO children drowned while swimming in a lake after school in Dumanjug town, southern Cebu last Wednesday afternoon.
PO2 Irish Buena of Dumanjug Police Station identified the fatalities as Jenevieb Durango, 11, and Ronilyn Masarita, eight.
The children were on their way home from school when they stopped by a lake past 12 p.m. The lake is in the mountain barangay of Lamak, some 18 kilometers away from the town proper.
The children, both in grade school, reportedly drowned. Their remains were found by residents floating in the lake past 4 p.m.
“They reportedly didn’t know how to swim,” Buena, chief of Women and Children Protection Desk, told Sun.Star Cebu.
The Dumanjug Police Station learned of the incident only last Thursday after the children’s parents didn’t report it to police.
Buena said they received a call from the Municipal Social Welfare and Development (MSWD) about the incident after the MSWD was informed by the barangay captain.
Urged by the barangay captain, the children’s fathers Bernardo Durango and Rolando Nasarita went to the police station past 12 p.m. and told police of what happened.
When asked why they didn’t report the drowning, the two fathers, both farmers, said they were busy with their work.
The MSWD will give assistance to the victim’s families. Police also ruled out foul play into children’s death based on what they’ve heard.