ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 26 June) — Brothers Rolando Canillio, 10, and Junrey, 6, joined their mother and three others at around 3 p.m. on Friday in a coastal village here to gather seashells and sea cucumber for dinner, and were reported to have for home.
Neither Rolando nor Junrey was home.
Eddie Sumile, Operations Officer of the 1003 Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Squadron told MindaNews in a telephone interview that the brothers, residents of Purok 1-A in Barangay Buru-un in Iligan City were reported missing by 4 p.m.
“Though it was still low tide, the outflow current of Linamon River was very strong at that time,” he said.
At around 5:30 p.m., a fisherman from Purok 4 in Poblacion, Linamon, Lanao del Norte, recovered the dead body of Junrey a few meters from the shoreline.
“There was an attempt to revive but the child was already dead and was brought to a funeral home in Iligan City,” Sumile said.
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, the PCG and PCG Auxiliary resumed the search and retrieval operations while another team went on foot patrol, hoping they would find Rolando.
Sumile said a woman requested to board the PCG speed boat to “offer flowers in the high seas of Iligan Bay hoping to find the missing child.” (Richel V. Umel / MindaNews)
