Body of boy missing in flashflood found

CEBU, Philippines – The eight-year-old boy who was swept away by strong river currents Sunday afternoon in sitio Cabuan, Barangay Cogon, Naga town, was found dead yesterday morning by fisher-men in Cuaming Island, Inabanga, Bohol.

The father of the boy, Crisanto Paran, personally identified the body as that of his son Reniel, after it was brought to the Fishermen Sea Ecological Care (FISECA) headquarters in barangay Cansojong, Talisay City. He said he recognized the hairstyle and a bronze ring on the boy's left finger.

The body was found by fisherman Federico Hoybia, a resident of Tangke, who went to Cuaming Island to fish. The island faces the coastal village of Tangke and can be reached in about an hour by boat.

Hoybia, 54, said he thought what was in front of them was a dead dog, but when they looked closer they saw that it was a child's body floating face down and already decomposing.

The two fishermen immediately went home to report what they saw to the barangay. It was Tangke councilman Leo Labalan who contacted FISECA for assistance, and together with the said Bantay Dagat task force, the group went back to Cuaming and fetched the body of the child, and later brought it to the FISECA headquarters where Cristanto was already wait-ing.

The body was then taken to the Mountain View Funeral Homes in Naga. It will soon be taken home to Barangay West Poblacion, Naga, where the body of his sister Chris, 13, now lies. 

The two died after they were swept by a strong current while walking along the river in Barangay Cogon, with their grandmother Agripina, 58, and brother Reynan, nine, on their way to a picnic. Agripina and Reynan survived the incident. (FREEMAN)