Girl, 3, drowns in irrigation canal

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A three-year-old girl drowned to her death in an irrigation canal in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo afternoon of September 2.

The body of Mae Ann, a resident of Barangay Lagubang, Barotac Nuevo, was found two hours after she went missing.

According to Mae Ann’s grandmother, she left the girl and another young cousin to play outside their house while she was preparing their meal. Their house is located near the irrigation lateral.

When the grandmother checked on the kids at around 1:30 p.m., Mae Ann was no longer around.

Staff Sergeant Ronsky Libo-on, Barotac Nuevo police investigator, said the victim’s grandmother immediately asked for help from family members.

Together with several barangay tanods, they began looking for the girl in the irrigation canal.

Her body was found stuck in a pile of drift wood in the lateral around 3:45 p.m.

She was taken to Don Jose Sustiguer Monfort Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo but was declared dead on arrival.

It was gathered that Mae Ann’s grandmother was looking after her while her mother works in Cavite and her father was at the Iloilo Fish Port in Iloilo City.