Police report drowning of British man at Albay province beach resort

Albay province
British man David Wilmot, who drowned while swimming at a beach resort near Oas town in Albay province.

Police have reported that a 57-year-old British man drowned while swimming at a beach resort near Oas town in Albay province.

Police Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib said today (Friday, July 19) that ‘David Andrew Smith Wilnot’ died while swimming at about 5.30pm yesterday.

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After he was retrieved from the sea at the beach resort in Barangay Maramba, he died en-route to Pantao Hospital in Libon town.

On his Facebook page, the victim gives his name as David Wilmot. He was a former bus driver and a frequent visitor to the Philippines.

According to a report in The Inquirer, police are continuing to investigate the drowning, although it is not considered to be suspicious.

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Police Staff Sergeant Romy Regalario, chief investigator of the case, said Mr Wilmot arrived in the country on July 2.

He said: “David Wilmot had been coming to the Philippines at least once a year since 2011. He had been coming here for vacations.”

Mr Wilson had been staying at the house of a Filipino woman named Joan Omaga. The pair were listed on social media as being in a relationship together and Mr Wilson had posted that he “loved her very much”.

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Staff Sergeant Regalario added: “The morgue is now in communication with the British consul for the process of returning his remains to England and informing the families.

“Officers are looking into what caused the tourist to drown but we do not believe it is suspicious.”

Earlier this year, we reported on a spate of foreign tourists drowning in the Philippines, with at least four fatalities recorded in the first two weeks of January alone.

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