TUGUEGARAO CITY, PHILIPPINES- A 19-year old cadet of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) died on Monday, May 1, barely a month after he was admitted at the country’s premier military school.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, May 2, Colonel Shiela Marie Jardiolyn, PMA resident physician, told THE NORTHERN FORUM that cadet Erwin Christian Vergara died at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) due to “hypovolemic shock secondary to upper gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to bleeding peptic ulcer.”
Jardiolyn said Vergara was first admitted the PMA emergency unit on April 25 when complained of dizziness, weakness and blood in his feces.
Upon knowing that Vergara’s blood hemoglobin count dipped to 5.8 and the normal count is 13, Jardiolyn said they “immediately evacuated” Vergara to BGHMC, where he had undergone 7 blood transfusions.
Jardiolyn ruled out hazing or foul play at Vergara’s death, noting that Vergara had already been “complaining of on-and-off abdominal pains for three years,” according to his medical examination before entering to PMA.
She said the parents already arrived to inspect Vergara’s remains on Monday night.
PMA spokesman Lieutenant Coloner Reynaldo Balido promised to further investigate Vergara’s death as he assured the family of assistance.
Hailed in Alcala town in Cagayan province, Vergara was a student of Cagayan State University before he dropped for PMA.
Meanwhile, his friends and relatives from Cagayan expressed to social media their grief on his passing.
They describedVergara as “friendly” and “fun to be with.” Northernforum.net
