BORACAY – The Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) party-list has condemned what it believed was the “unmistakable negligence” of the management of the Boracay Dragon Force (BDF) in the death of seven of its athletes when their boat capsized while training.
PBA’sRep. Jericho Nograles said that for one, it did not make any sense for a dragon boat team like the BDF to be unprepared for that emergency situation.
“We condole with the athletes and their families. Let this incident be a wakeup call to all coaches that death and injury can occur for any sport and proper precautions must be followed,” Nograles said.
There is negligence for allowing the paddlers to go out on training without wearing the required safety equipment particularly their life vests, he stressed.
“It should be expected that boats can capsize or things can go wrong during training especially in the open sea where conditions can change anytime. From what I have been told, it turns out that one of the fatalities does not know how to swim. How can that even happen?” Nograles said.
“The fact that dragon boat athletes were not trained to swim or had no safety devices can constitute negligence,” added Nograles.
Meanwhile, PBA president Mark Aeron Sambar said the incident should trigger action from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to be more persistent in requiring National Sports Associations (NSAs) to regularly conduct risk assessment and strictly practice all the needed safety protocols during training and during actual competition.
A report from the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in the island stated that the drowning victims were not wearing life vests and one of them did not know how to swim.
Nograles pointed to Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code.
“It is clear under our penal laws that any person who, by simple imprudence or negligence, shall commit an act which would otherwise constitute a grave felony, shall suffer the penalty of arresto mayor in its medium and maximum periods and if it constituted a less serious felony, the penalty of arresto mayor in its minimum period shall be imposed,’” he said./PN
