The death of a Korean tourist who died after he went parasailing with his wife in the waters of barangay Punta Engano, Lapu-Lapu City last Jan. 24 reminded us of yet another death of a Korean tourist due to drowning two years ago.
On July 8, 2015 Heo Seung Yung tried but failed to make it to shore in San Francisco town, Camotes Island after he, Baek Seung Kyoon and Kim Eun had been drifting in the waters for more than 24 hours.
The three Koreans went diving despite the rainy weather, confident that they would be able to make the dive even if they had no boat since the Coast Guard barred any light seacraft from traveling that day due to the inclement weather.
They have the equipment and the know-how and they probably wouldn’t have taken a rejection from the New Grand Bleu dive shop whose operations were suspended as a result of the incident.
Now we have yet another accident involving a Korean identified as Seong Soo Kim who went parasailing with his wife despite a gale warning issued by the state weather bureau Pagasa.
Why they were able to get their way with the management of NTJ Water Sports Cebu which provided the equipment and may have facilitated the parasailing trip we don’t know for sure pending the results of an investigation by Lapu-Lapu City Hall.
Still, after the death of one Korean diver at sea two years ago, one would have expected the Lapu-Lapu City government to have imposed stringent restrictions on dive shops and other similar establishments in allowing their guests to engage in water activities during rainy or stormy weather.
One understands that as hosts, Lapu-Lapu City, its resorts, hotels and other establishments can accommodate the requests of their foreign guests within reason and in accordance with existing local and national laws.
Aside from affecting their reputation, the management and its personnel knew that any accident involving their guests would reflect badly on the city and its carefully cultivated image as a “historic resort city.”
As it is, representatives of NTJ Water Sports Cebu are negotiating with the Korean’s family and they may explain their side on the incident but this unfortunate predicament could have been avoided if they simply refused the couple’s request.
Since Lapu-Lapu City is autonomous from the province, it befalls on its city government to probably revisit any laws governing the decision making of its resorts and other establishments in allowing guests to engage in water sports activities during inclement weather.
Somehow these resorts, hotels and dive shops can persuade their guests not to venture forth into dangerous waters despite their insistence to do so. They can do this without antagonizing their guests by impressing on them that they value their safety and comfort too much to risk it on a potentially fatal outing.