3 kids drown in Laguna fish pond

Three children drowned in a fish pond located at Barangay Macabling, Sta. Rosa, Laguna after going for a swim at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

According to a report on "Quick Response Team", Cathy Ramos Malabuyoc, 10 years old; Stephanie Salazar Cardeno, 11 years old; and, Alyza Alarcib Urisantos, 12 years old were neighbors and decided to go for a swim in the other town's fish pond.

Alyza's 9-year old brother said the children were pulling each other until they started to drown one by one.

Because the distance between the fish pond and the community was far, it took a while for rescuers to come. When the barangay officials finally arrived at the scene and tried to rescue the children, the children were already found underwater, their arms around each other, lifeless.

According to Jejomar Banal, one of the barangay officials, "Ito po ay private property at mahigpit na pinagbabawal na magpunta sa lugar na to. Di talaga mapigil yung mga bata at hindi alam nung mga magulang na dito po nagpunta yung mga bata."

He added, "Di natin namalayan. Di po natin alam paano nakapasok yung mga bata sa lugar na yun."

The children were still brought to the community hospital but were all dead upon arrival.

According to Banal, this was second death in the fish pond. Stricter security measures was enforced after the first incident.

Julita Malabuyoc, the mother of one of the victims, said, "Basta nabigla na lang ako na napunta na sila doon. Nalaman ko na lang doon sa isa kong anak na nalunod na yung tatlo."

"Hindi marunong lumangoy si Cathy pati yung iba. Ngayon lang nila naisipan pumunta doon," she explained.

Despite the tragedy, the parents of the victims did not blame the fish pond owners, saying the place was a private property.

However, the local police are continuing investigation to see if the owner has a liability.

According to Banal, financial help will be extended to the families of the victims from the barangay and city hall. —Kaela Malig/ LDF, GMA News