Marawi-based Army brigade deputy chief dies during Misamis Oriental diving trip

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – An Army brigade deputy commander drowned in a diving accident off Iligan Bay in Initao town, Misamis Oriental, on Saturday, February 5.

Initao police investigator Cito Chiel Balaba identified the victim as Army Colonel Nolie Anquillano, 54, deputy commander of the Marawi City-based 103rd Infantry Brigade.

Balaba said Anquillano was diving along with fellow Army and police officers when the accident occurred at around 10:20 am Saturday.

“He was declared missing by his companions after they searched the area,” Balaba said.

Together with divers who were companions of the victim, the town police led by Major Roberto Cambi joined the search.

Police said the waters around Initao town were rough, and it was windy.

Balaba said the body of the victim was found at around 1:15 pm and was brought to the Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospital in Initao where he was declared dead by a physician.

Anquillano was the second officer who died while on a diving trip in Mindanao in the last nine years.

Brigadier General Daniel Lucero, former 103rd Infantry Brigade commander, died in a similar accident in Tukuran town, Zamboanga del Sur, on June 1, 2013.

Lucero had just been named as commanding general of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Pagadian City when he died in the diving accident. –Rappler.com

Froilan Gallardo is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship