A 28-year-old volunteer teacher drowned while crossing a river on his way home in Barangay Gatuslao, Candoni, Negros Occidental, on Saturday, October 26.
The victim was Regie Magbato Benio, a volunteer teacher at Calamunding Elementary School in Barangay Gatuslao, Eric John Monserate, Candoni Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer, said on Monday.
The teacher who had attended a birthday party of a relative decided to go home ahead as his father was not well, his brother told Monserate.
Monserate said there may have been a strong current when the teacher crossed the river causing him to drown. .
His brother did not go home that evening because when he got to river the water high. The brother only learned the next morning that Benio had not returned home.
His body was found in the Cabilucan River on Sunday, October 27.*