At least 29 people died of drowning while three others were reported missing since the start of the Holy Week break on March 27, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported on Sunday, March 31.

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said most of the drowning fatalities were reported in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) with 10, followed by Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley Region with six each, and Bicol Region with five reported deaths.

“Out of the 34 drowning incidents reported, 29 of them were reported dead and three others are still missing. The figure also includes two incidents of near drowning wherein two of the victims were saved by our personnel,” said Fajardo during an interview over dzBB.

“The fatalities are as young as four, five and six years old while the oldest is 78 years old,” she added.

According to Fajardo, 12 of those who died are minors. 

Fajardo said PNP personnel are among those who are currently joining the search and rescue operation on three reported missing—one in Rosales, Pangasinan; one in Jones, Isabela; and another one in Tumauini, Isabela.

Cases of drowning are high during Holy Week break when thousands of people take advantage of the long vacation to go to various beaches and resorts.

During the Holy Week break last year, the PNP recorded 63 cases of drowning incidents.

Deployment shift 

Amid the high drowning cases during long holiday break, Fajardo said they have already factored in the deployment in beach resorts of policemen highly trained in life-saving in cases of drowning incidents.

This is the reason why police personnel were able to save two children this Holy Week—a four year old boy in Ilocos Sur and another one in Aurora province.

“In Ilocos Sur, our personnel were able to successfully perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on a four-year old boy. We also deployed SAR-trained personnel in Aurora and this led to the rescue of another drowning victim,” said Fajardo.

Peaceful

More than 52,000 policemen were deployed across the country for Lenten security.

Fajardo said that since they started the monitoring on March 25, they have not recorded any serious security threat—aside from unfortunate incidents of drowning and vehicular accidents.

“Generally, the observation of the Holy Week is peaceful,” said Fajardo. 

“We are still on heightened alert status because we are expecting the return of millions of people from the provinces starting Sunday. So our personnel are still deployed in major thoroughfares, recreational areas and of course in bus terminals, seaports and airports,” she added.

The heightened alert status of the PNP, according to Fajardo, is expected to be lifted on Monday, April 1.