MikeLigalig.com

By Fred Amora
The Bohol Standard

Three tourists died in just one Sunday and two of them by drowning.

Provincial Board Member Amalia Reyes -Tirol has sought for an investigation on the reported deaths of tourists by drowning, particularly those diving in the blue sea depths of Bohol’s dive sites.

Rising in the privilege hour of last Tuesday’s Sangguniang Panlalawigan regular session, the lady board member from the second district pointed out that deaths in tourism related activities like scuba diving could be prevented if safety measures and strict compliance of diving instructions are followed.

She also scored the lack of emergency facilities, like competent rescue response crew, a ready stand-by ambulance and vital facilities like a decompression chamber for divers having trouble while underneath the water.

“An investigation, in aid of legislation is necessary for us to know what measures have been taken to provide safety to tourists and divers in particular who come to our island which is highly promoted as a prime tourism destination in the country today,” board member Tirol said in an exclusive interview with STANDARD after the Tuesday session.

Pres. Arroyo herself immersed in the deep blue seas of Balicasag in her last visit here in Bohol and highly admired the beauty beneath the island’s seawaters.

LGU INITIATIVES

Board member Tirol said she would also check if the municipalities with tourism related diving activities (Panglao, Dauis, Baclayon and others) have enacted ordinances that require a lookout or back-up crew to watch boats servicing divers, to monitor and insure that these tourists are safe while within our seawaters.

“Bantayan jod nila kon unsa na ang kahimtang diha basin ug naay nanghitabo unya walay nakahibalo aron makapangayo ug tabang (a guard must watch diving activities to know if something happens and can immediately ask for help),” Tirol

said.

Two months ago, European divers which included a television broadcast crew drifted away from a Panglao dive site and were lost and feared dead for several days until they were found in nearby Leyte.

INCOMPETENCE

A female Japanese tourist drowned in the Balicasag Island seawaters last July 20 (Sunday) while diving in a spot known as Black Forest Diving Point in Panglao, Bohol.

The drowning victim was from Kasugi City, Japan, who together with her husband and some friends went purposely to Bohol to dive in its highly-publicized diving spots.

Initial report said that the victim was with her husband and were diving with supposed diving instructors from the Blue Corral Diving Tours Co., Ltd. based in Songculan, Dauis, Bohol.

About 30 minutes into the diving activity, the Japanese was noticed sinking deeper into the seawaters about 27 meters down from the surface.

Although the victim was immediately given a CPR resuscitation, a decompression chamber could have been more helpful in such kind of accident, diving experts said.

The equipment allows the drowning victim to regain body pressure, restore circulation of oxygen and release deposited seawater inside the drowning victim’s body.

The two other drowning victims were identified as Jung Choul, 24, from South Korea who reportedly fell into the swimming pool 2 o’clock dawn of Sunday at the Bohol Divers Resort in Tawala, Panglao while the other was Chinese national Gary Chua who died of heart attack at Bohol Beach Club.

The three victims were brought to a hospital in the city but were all pronounced “dead on arrival” by responding physicians.

SUPPORT

Several other drowning incidents here in Bohol pointed to the same lack of safety precautions, medical facility and competent emergency crews which resulted to victims reaching hospital already dead (DOA).

The move of Tirol was supported with the manifestation of first district board member Alfonso Damalerio and third district board member Aster Piollo that it is high time the tourism industry should look into these matters concerning safety and medical facilities for such concerns.

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