By: Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Megaworld Corporation will be reviewing their security protocols and safety measures, following the death of two children who drowned at an eight-feet drainage inside the construction site in Barangay 41 here last Sunday.
Megaworld chief strategy officer Kevin Tan, who was here yesterday, said they were very saddened about the incident.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the victims and we’re really sorry for what happened,” he added.
Police Lieutenant Rondyl Tapang, head of Police Station 4, said five children reportedly went to the site to hunt birds but they instead saw a drainage and four of them reportedly jumped into the water.
They were previously reprimanded by the security guard not to enter the area but they were able to sneak inside the site through a fence, he added.
He said the drainage had water at that time after it rained in the past days.
Their six-year-old companion who did not jump, tried to rescue them using a bamboo stick but only two of them were saved, the station commander said.
The two rescued children aged 6 and 8 called for help but it was too late for Robert John Corsino, 7; and Adrian Bagundol, 9, both residents of Barangay 27.
Corsino and Bagundol were declared dead upon arrival at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital here while the two survivors are now confined at the said hospital.
Meanwhile, Tan said there were no workers inside the site when it happened since it’s a Sunday, and the site is not really meant to be visited by people.
He said they believed that the children sneaked into the site from the riverside.
“This is a safety concern, thus we are now working to add security to secure that area,” he said.
“We will be reaching out to the family and we’ll offer assistance to them,” he said.
The Megaworld representatives and the police met yesterday to discuss the incident.
The police, on the other hand, reminded the parents to strictly guide their children to prevent a similar incident.
