Capiz flood leaves councilor dead

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — A councilor of Panitan town in Capiz and two members of his family died when their vehicle was swept away by floodwater amid heavy rain caused by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng on Monday.

Sangguniang Bayan member Ricarte Dorado, his daughter Maricar and niece Janet Bismanos were on a kuliglig or an improvised tractor trike on their way home when it was carried away by the strong current at around 2 p.m.

Maricar, whose body was recovered after a few hours, died on the way to the Bailan District Hospital in Pontevedra. The bodies of Dorado and Bismanos were found before 6 a.m. yesterday.

Personnel of the Panitan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), local police, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Army’s 603rd Community Defense conducted search and rescue operations.

The MDRRMO had earlier reported two fatalities in Capiz, one of them also in Panitan, due to the tropical cyclone.

Capiz had earlier been placed under a state of calamity.