.png){kind=logo}
1 week ago
5
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Ric Sapnu - The Philippine Star
January 24, 2026 | 12:00am
Gercel Andrei Sale and his friends were taking a bath in a river in Barangay Lanang when he and John Blake Pajarillag were swept away by the current.
STAR / File
CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines — A 14-year-old boy drowned while another was reported missing in a river in Candaba, Pampanga on Thursday.
Gercel Andrei Sale and his friends were taking a bath in a river in Barangay Lanang when he and John Blake Pajarillag were swept away by the current.
Witnesses said the boys were calling for help as they were drifting away toward the middle part of the river.
Sale was recovered a few hours later by responding village officials. However, he was declared dead on arrival at the Candaba Community Hospital.
Probers said the victims had just finished taking their examination when they decided to go to the river on their way home.
As of Thursday afternoon, authorities were still scouring the river in the hope of finding Pajarillag alive.
