CAPIZ – A 17-year-old senior high school student died after she was allegedly electrocuted while resting near the shoreline in Barangay Dumolog on Saturday afternoon, August 1, prompting police to investigate a property caretaker who could face charges for alleged negligence.
The victim, identified only by the alias “Angel,” was a resident of Barangay Banica, Roxas City.
Police Lt. Col. Rogelio Tomagtang, chief of the Roxas City Police Station, said investigators are determining whether a live electrical wire had been connected to the barbed-wire fence surrounding a private property, which allegedly caused the teenager’s death.
During a press conference on Monday, Tomagtang said the caretaker admitted that a live electrical wire had been attached to the fence. However, police are continuing their investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and determine the appropriate charges to be filed.
Initial investigation showed that Angel had gone jogging along the beach before stopping to rest. Police said she sat on a concrete bench beneath the barbed-wire fence and apparently came into contact with it, unaware that it was allegedly carrying an electric current.
She was declared dead at the scene by responding emergency personnel.
Former Barangay Dumolog chairman Richard Mario Artillero, one of the first to respond, said he had earlier detected electricity in the fence and immediately warned the property’s caretaker about the possible danger.
According to Artillero, the caretaker denied that electricity was leaking into the barbed-wire fence. He also noted that no warning signs or safety devices had been installed to alert the public.
Artillero said he was shocked to later learn that a teenager had been electrocuted in the same area. He added that he urged the caretaker to disconnect the power immediately in the hope that the victim could still be revived, but she was already unresponsive when rescuers arrived.
Residents also claimed they had repeatedly warned the caretaker against allegedly connecting electricity to the fence because many people, particularly children, frequently gather along the shoreline.
Following the incident, several residents alleged that other individuals had previously suffered electrocution in the same area.
The caretaker, however, denied intentionally electrifying the barbed-wire fence.
Police have yet to determine whether the fence was deliberately connected to a live electrical source and said the investigation remains ongoing.
The victim’s family has blamed the property owner for the allegedly electrified fence and is seeking justice for Angel’s death./PN
