Adventist College Student Drowns in Philippines Waterfall

Venus Alicante Pasco dies in a turbulent whirlpool.

Posted September 18, 2016

A 20-year-old student from Seventh-day Adventist-owned Mountain View College in the Philippines has drowned in a waterfall accident, the college said.

Venus Alicante Pasco, a graduating medical technology student, died after jumping into the Kumakaon waterfall in Barangay Tandacul Lilingayan Bukidnon, near her hometown, at around 1 p.m. on Sept. 11, said Carlos Arganio, vice president for student affairs at Mountain View College, located on the southern island of Mindanao.

“The entire campus mourns the untimely death of Pasco,” Arganio said. “She was a deeply loved student who was very active.”

Pasco was with a group of friends at the time, and her body was recovered after a diver with an air compressor was able to enter the turbulent whirlpool below the waterfall.

“We held her by her hands and put her on a stretcher after the diver with the compressor pulled her from approximately 5-meter-deep turbulent water,”Douglas Indino Velez Alboria, an accounting instructor at the college, said on Facebook. “This is so sad.”

Friends and family from across the Philippines filled Pasco’s Facebook page with expressions of love and support

“You will always be in our hearts,” classmate Joyce Salvana said.

“See you in heaven,” wrote another.

We reserve the right to approve and disapprove comments accordingly and will not be able to respond to inquiries regarding that. Please keep all comments respectful and courteous to authors and fellow readers.