A man drowned while fishing in shallow waters in Panglao on Thursday morning, police said.

Staff Sgt. Aldrin Cuervo of the Panglao Police Station said residents in Barangay Doljo found the body of Elmer Suico, 54, floating in the water at past 11 a.m.

Suico was last seen alive net fishing in shallow waters.

“Namokot ni siya aning mabaw ra na portion sa dagat, naglangoy ra ni siya unya daplin dagat ra pero wa ra abti og pila ka oras naabtan ni siya sa mga local didto na naglutaw,” said Cuervo.

Residents immediately carried Suico to the shore and applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR but to no avail prompting them to alert the authorities.

However, the town’s municipal health officer declared him dead on the spot.

According to Cuervo, they have yet to determine the cause of drowning but initial information gathered by investigators indicated that Suico had asthma and may have suffered from an attack during the incident. (AD)