12-year-old boy survives crocodile attack in Balabac

A 12-year old boy sustained wounds and gashes but survived Friday evening a crocodile attack in a river at Sitio Mararanggo, Barangay Pasig, Balabac. Police Officer 2 Ryan Val Palasigue of the Balabac Municipal Police Station (MPS) said Saturday to Palawan News that the injured boy was washing by the river with his younger brother around 6:00 p.m. when the crocodile attack happened. “’Yong biktima kasama niya ‘yong kapatid niya naghuhugas ng katawan nila sa ilog. And then bigla na lang sinakmal [ng] buwaya itong biktima. Ang kapatid [niya] mabuti nakatakbo sa tatay. ‘Yong tatay naka-saklolo sa biktima, [kasi] parang malapit lang ata ang bahay nila doon [sa ilog],” Palasigue said. (The victim was with his youngest brother in the river, they were washing their bodies. And then all of a sudden, the crocodile attacked the boy. His brother was able to run to get his father to help. The father was able to come to his son’s aide. Their house appears to be near the river.) Palasigue narrated that when the boy was pulled under the deepest part of the river by the crocodile, his father also jumped to save him.

This move, he explained, probably scared the crocodile and caused it to let go of the young victim.

“Ang pagkakuwento kanina, pagkahila [ng buwaya] sa bata sa may malalimlalim na [parte ng ilog], tinalon din ng tatay. Tapos ‘yon na, parang natakot na rin ‘yong buwaya siguro, [kaya] nabitawan siya,” said Palasigue. (Based on the story a while ago, after the victim was pulled under the water, the father also jumped to save him. And then that’s it, that scared the crocodile and let go of the boy.) He said the boy sustained gashes on his arm and legs, wounds in the genital area, and lesions on the face. He also injured an eye. Due to the distance, the victim was initially brought to the Balabac Rural Health Unit (RHU), which reported the incident to them. Palasigue noted that the boy was immediately referred by Balabac RHU to a hospital in Brooke’s Point for further medication. Meanwhile, Palasigue said this is the first recorded incident of a crocodile attack in 2019.