Boy, 5, zapped; man drowns

CEBU, Philippines - A five-year-old boy died after being electrocuted Tuesday evening in Barangay Marmol, Tuburan town.

The victim was identified as Jevin Montebon,a resident of the same barangay.

Prior to the incident, Ronald Balbuena, 22; Romel Capala, 21; and Kerwin Librea, 30; all residents of Barangay Marmol, were fishing together with a certain Jason Montebon (relationship with Jevin could not be established as of this writing) using a live electric wire plugged in at the house of the victim.

Police Officer 2 Jennyfil Cañal of Tuburan Police Station said after the group finished catching fish, they called the victim and his seven-year-old brother, Adrian, to get the fish. The victim and his brother were swimming at the river at that time.

However, they did not notice that the victim passed behind them and touched the dip net where the live electric wire was attached.

Balbuena immediately pulled the live electric wire away from the victim.

They rushed Jevin to the hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Balbuena, Capala, Kerwin and Jason voluntarily surrendered to the Tuburan police and now detained.

Cañal said if the parents of the victim will not file the complaint against them, police will release them once the reglementary period will lapse.

Drowning

Meanwhile, a man drowned shortly after noontime on Tuesday in the seawaters off Barangay Biasong, Talisay City.

The victim was identified as Francisco Cara-at, 45, a resident of Sitio Pungsod, Barangay Lawaan III of the same city.

Police Officer 2 Edwin Campomanes said Cara-at went fishing with his neighbor, Romeo Baynos, using a fishnet locally called "loya."

While they were at sea, Baynos noticed that Cara-at was waving his hands from a distance and seemed asking for help, so he tried to rescue him. Unfortunately, he failed.

When Cara-at disappeared from the surface, fishermen nearby helped in searching for him. Police believed Cara-at's body got drifted into an underwater cliff which made it difficult for rescuers.

After a few hours, Barangay Captain Reynaldo Bas, together with barangay tanods, found Cara-at's body floating near the area. —/JMD (FREEMAN)