By Jennifer P. Rendon
A teenage boy visiting relatives in Iloilo City died of drowning on the morning of June 22.
Alias Jorich, 17, of Barangay Inadlawan, Dueñas, Iloilo, went swimming with his cousins at around 8 a.m. on Saturday at Fort San Pedro in Barangay Veterans Village, City Proper district.
Jorich’s cousins, all minors, said they saw him diving from the seawall near the Fort San Pedro Drive-In restaurant but did not see him emerge from the water.
Initially, his cousins were not alarmed since Jorich knew how to swim. They went home without him, thinking he had gone ahead to change.
They became worried when they learned that Jorich had not returned to his uncle’s home. They immediately went back to the sea, dived, and searched for him.
An hour after they saw him dive, Jorich was found underwater.
He was unconscious when members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) emergency team brought him to St. Paul’s Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Captain Roque Gimeno III, chief of Iloilo City Police Station 1, said they were informed of the incident at 12:30 p.m.
Gimeno said it is likely that the victim died of drowning, although there were reports of a wound on his head.
Investigators are not discounting the possibility that the teenager could have hit his head on a rock after his dive.
Authorities have reminded the public to be mindful of their personal safety, especially if they are celebrating the feast of St. John the Baptist on June 24.
