Phil. Daily Inquirer, Oct. 19, 2005
POLICE yesterday finally recovered the body of an 11-year-old boy two days after he and his friend drowned in a swollen creek in Mandaluyong City. The body of Mark Anthony Bernardino was recovered at about 6 a.m. in Sta. Ana, Manila, Barangay Addition Hills official Nonoy Gojo told the Inquirer. Bernardino's body was identified by his parents, he added. The body of Bernardino's friend John Ray Manatad, 10, was found earlier near the Arroceros Pumping Station in Manila the other day. Bernardino and Manatad were playing on Maytunas Creek that runs across Shaw Boulevard on Sunday afternoon with another friend Adrian Taghoy, 9, at the height of heavy rains. The two victims were on board a piece of styrofoam floating on the creek when the water suddenly rose because of the downpour. "Bigla na lang silang nawala sa tubig, (They suddenly disappeared in the water)," said Taghoy who did not join his friends on the styrofoam. Taghoy survived with only wounds on his right foot. Barangay officials in Addition Hills, where the three boys live, said they usually field patrol teams to prevent children from playing by the creek. "But we cannot always monitor the entire stretch," barangay watchman Alex Pagaduan said.
