SEVEN Boy Scouts who sneaked away from a scouting jamboree in Iloilo to swim at a nearby beach drowned Saturday.Police identified the fatalities as Neridyn F. Barcenas, 14; Jerril S. Semic, 14; Jeorge S. Selibio, 14; Alberto Coroedo, 17; and Philip S. Mucas, 14; all of San Joaquin, Iloilo; and John Francis Marcon, 12, a resident of Barangay Pamul-ogan, Cabatuan, Iloilo, and Christian B. Moneva, 11, of Barangay Calayo, Cabatuan.The boys were among 6,000 Boy Scouts attending a provincial jamboree in San Joaquin town, police said.Accompanied by at least two scout masters, 10 boy scouts went for a swim in a beach in Purok 1, San Joaquin, some 50 kilometers south of Iloilo City.The group apparently ignored warnings by local elders not to swim in the area because of its treacherous underwater currents.The boys were swimming when they were swept farther out to sea.A statement from the Iloilo Council of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines said Scouter Felix Cata, seeing eight of the boys thrashing in the deep water, shouted for help.Two boats responded and rescued four of the scouts. Three more boys were recovered by bigger and older Rover Scouts.The victims were taken to the Guimbal District Hospital. Efforts to revive them failed.The jamboree was supposed to end Sunday.-- With AP
