BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The quarry operator who was ordered to stop operating in Bago City, Negros Occidental on Wednesday said yesterday that the area where three people drowned was not part of their area of operation.
Atty. Jose Alvin Gonzaga, operator of the quarry site, said that based on the accounts of his workers, the area where the victims drowned was further down their place and was already part of the city’s Barangay Caridad, not Barangay Napoles which was the place of incident reported by the Bago City police.
Gonzaga pointed out the Bago River had parts that were shallow and parts that were deep.
He also believed that the victims may have been swept away by underwater current, which ultimately caused their untimely demise.
But despite having no moral and legal obligation over the incident, Gonzaga said, they decided to still give assistance to the drowning victims’ families.
And to avoid similar incidents in the future, Gonzaga said they would install signs warning prohibiting people from swimming or taking a bath in the deep parts of the river.
On Tuesday, March 29, Riza Macatigos and her two nieces aged 16 and 11 years old drowned in the river.
Punong Barangay Pepito Eyoy Sr. of Barangay Napoles quickly ordered the quarry site to halt its operation temporarily.
The quarry site was said to have been the subject of numerous complaints which even reached Malacañang after the issue was taken up by popular broadcaster Ben Tulfo./PN
