Press Release
August 24, 2014

Koko to conduct probe into Bulacan field trip mishap;
seeks suspension of exposure tours

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III today sought an investigation into the death of seven Bulacan State University students who died on a field trip on Tuesday.

Pimentel said he would focus his probe into the practice of so-called educational field trips being organized by different schools that ended up in disaster.

He said he would invite Bulacan State University officials to shed light on the death of the students who got drowned in the swelling Madium River in San Miguel, Bulacan.

Pimentel said he would also summon the owners of a private tour company contracted for the field trip, adding that there might have been lapses by the tour guides that led to the mishap.

At the same time, he enjoined school authorities to observe a moratorium on field trips while investigations are conducted to determine the integrity of so-called tour operators.

Pimentel expressed sympathy on the parents of the freshmen tourism students who perished in the tragedy and asked police authorities to speed up their investigation.

He said it is unfortunate that some schools are organizing field trips that turned out to be more expensive than the cost of tuition fees.

"Tingnan natin kung may racket bang involved dito," Pimentel said of the exposure trips that sometimes required students in Luzon to go to the Visayas and Mindanao and vice versa.

"These are no longer relevant school activities when the exposure trips end up visits to malls," Pimentel said.

Pimentel wants to know the importance of such outdoor activities, the safety measures and precautions being undertaken by school authorities concerned and the tour operators and the costs of the field trips.

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