'Icon' passes away / Troubled waters

Upsilonian Ricardo “Dick” Zamora ’49, concert pianist, composer, musical director, and TV executive director and producer, passed away September 10. He was 85.

Zamora, holder of two music degrees from the University of the Philippines College of Music, gained national prominence in 1959 with the score he wrote for the musical “Aloyan” for the “Cavalcade” series intended by the Upsilon Sigma Phi Fraternity to raise funds for the benefit of UP janitors and for projects of the Catholic chapel then under Fr. John Delaney, S.J. The piece made him a living Upsilon icon up to this day.

Dick was well known for his contributions towards music appreciation, particularly in zarzuela, his writing and composing of novel compositions and cavalcades, and musical scores for LVN and Sampaguita Pictures and improving of broadcast and television networks’ musical libraries.

For his 1952 graduation for a bachelor of music degree, Dick chose to do a first in the country – rendering a recital of the George Gershwin Piano Concerto in F, in jazz idiom form. This created a drawn-out controversy among musical greats, but ended with jazz being introduced in the college’s courses.

Dick’s most cherished awards were the 1999 proclamation by the UP College of Music as “Living Legend,” and the 2001 tribute given him by his beloved Upsilon Sigma Phi.

The Internet story on the revered Dick musician says: “If at the end of the day, one were asked what role did the artist in Dick Zamora play on the over-all Philippine musical scene, a universally applicable term would be that of a ‘musical educator.’ For verily, said term would fittingly describe this person who lived his life, from his teens to the present, always educating and showing his circle of friends, and admirers, his general audience and listeners, how to ultimately love and appreciate music, Philippine or classical, in its pure, aesthetic form.”

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Statistics from the International Life Saving Federation (ILSF) say that every year, up to 1.2 million people around the world die by drowning. That means at least ten people will have drowned by the time you finish reading this column, or two people each minute. There are perhaps eight to ten times more people who are rescued, so it isn’t a total loss.

When swimming in open waters, what most people fear is what is called an “undertow” — an underwater current that returns seawards from the shore as a result of wave action. It is a popular misconception that undertow is responsible for many drownings by somehow pulling people below the surface, but the current itself is relatively harmless.

But ILSF states that what most people drown from is rip current, which draws them out to sea. This occurs when wind and waves push water towards the shore and that water is displaced by more oncoming waves. It streams along the shoreline until it finds an exit back to the sea or open lake water, usually a narrow passage. While many assume that dangerous currents are so powerful that they can pull you under, the current is actually strongest at the surface.

Surface flow tends to dampen incoming waves, which leads to the illusion of calm waters — which looks particularly inviting for a leisurely float. When they say still waters run deep, they aren’t kidding. Rip currents are stronger when the surf is rough, such as during high onshore winds or when a storm is far offshore. It has also been found that low tide strengthens rip currents as well.

One drowning incident due to rip current happened last December, shortly before Christmas. The Azores-Macalintal family was staying at the Sheridan Beach Resort and Spa in Sabang Beach, Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan. They checked in on the 22nd, and the following morning, after a hearty breakfast, they trooped to the beach for a dip.

On the beach, there were warning signs posted by the local government telling swimmers to exercise caution. The resort’s lifeguard on duty also gave the group repeated warnings of the strong current. Even as the family promised to stay close to shore, they continued on their way. Less than ten minutes later, there were sounds of panic and frantic waving from the party in the water.

The rip current which they had been warned about was dragging them out to sea. As lifeguards and local boatmen hurried to the rescue, one member of the family who was ashore, Ma. Cecily de Guzman, dove in and tried to lend a hand despite not being a strong swimmer. A widowed mother of two teenage boys, de Guzman went about rescuing the members of her family, but was overcome by exhaustion and nearly drowned fighting the current. She was pulled onto a boat where the resort’s lifeguard administered first aid.

Sheridan ’s resident nurse Florebar Mabanua was ashore and instructed that oxygen be rushed over to where the boat with de Guzman was about to dock. After inspecting her, Nurse Flor noticed a faint pulse and breathing. She proceeded to administer first aid. After removing the vomit that was obstructing de Guzman’s airways, Nurse Flor tried to apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but members of de Guzman’s family asked her to stand aside as they were doctors themselves.

An ambulance called for by resort personnel soon arrived and de Guzman was brought to the nearest hospital, which, unfortunately, was 80 km away. Despite all efforts from the paramedics and first response team, de Guzman was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Sheridan Resort shouldered all hospital and funeral expenses, as well as the family’s accommodation in Puerto Princesa. The grieving family thanked the resort’s management and staff for their assistance and concern.

It came as a shock, therefore, when a few months down the line, Sheridan received notice demanding that the resort pay the family P15 million for the tragedy that befell Ma. Cecily. Shortly after this, articles in media came out, putting the resort in a bad light and calling for the Puerto Princesa local government and the Department of Tourism to shut it down.

The resort’s management is clear on the fact that sufficient warnings about the strong current had been given to the group, that immediate assistance had been provided, that de Guzman died off its premises, and that the resort is clearly not responsible for accidents that happen on the coastline. In a recent presentation, the Philippine Drowning Prevention Council stated that an estimated 40,000 incidents of fatal drownings and near-drownings caused by disasters and daily living in the Philippines happen each year. A vast majority of those deaths occur in the seas surrounding the shore, but resorts are not held liable for these.

What is puzzling in all this is why this demand for financial remuneration comes almost 8 months after the incident.

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