Whether or not it was overconfidence on his part when he jumped into a river without a helmet or life vest, local canyoneering tour guide Aldrin Carba’s heart was in the right place when he led a group to explore Kanlaob River in Alegria town in southwest Cebu last week.
His last moments were spent making sure that every guest was safe, his assistant and cousin Tranquilino Temblor Jr. told Cebu Daily News. They even prayed before the group made the trek that would prove to be his last.
Baltazar Tribunalo, head of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council that led a search and rescue operation for Carba, said the tour guide lacked the proper equipment when he went ahead with the trip despite rainy weather.
Each tourist paid P500 to P800 for the guided tour through rocks and rivers. Carba didn’t want to disappoint them. He loved the outdoors, and needed the extra income to supplement his job as a paramedic in a Mandaue City hospital.
The accidental drowning followed less than a month after the watery death of Lapu-Lapu cave dive pioneer Alfonso “Doc” Amores, who had a heart attack while he was doing a techncial dive in Surigao’s Enchanted River, another tourism destination. The 68-year-old surgeon was an expert diver.
His death was a cold blanket on the visitor appeal of the Enchanted River and put a damper on the exploration of undersea caves, which like canyoneering, is a new, developing sports adventure trend in Cebu.
“There are many secrets in Cebu,” said Tribunalo, referring to the many nature spots in Cebu island being discovered and enjoyed by small groups of hardy adventure seekers.
He recommended the suspension of extreme adventure tours n the province till clear guidelines are safety standards are set.
We agree. Carba’s death simply can’t be ignored by tourism stakeholders and province officials.
Responsible tourism development puts a premium on safety and a positive experience for visitors.
A suspension would give time to take stock of the promise held out by adventure sports – spelunking, caving, mountain climbing, canyoneering — and match it with expert preparation for hosting bigger groups of tourists who find their way to Cebu’s nature “gems”.
Canyoneering is a recognized adventure sports activity in other parts of the world but we have yet to see a dedicated group of qualified practitioners in Cebu who can set standards on how it can be done safely by both experienced and novice tourists.
The Province and the Department of Tourism can help bring together stakeholders to map out steps to identify the right training, equipment and people for a program. Tour agencies know that it only takes one bad accident to turn a good destination into a ghost town. So let’s do this right.