Winning by a nose

A 12-year-old boy miraculously survived a saltwater crocodile attack last week in a remote area in Balabac, a municipality in the southwesternmost tip of the province of Palawan.

Apparently, the crocodile opened its deadly jaws, releasing Diego from its deadly grip after the boy instinctively reacted to the attack the only way he can: biting the reptilian predator’s nose.

“I bit the crocodile’s nose because he bit my arm,” Diego said in a TV interview.

The crocodile attack came when Diego and his two younger brothers went to the river to swim. Suddenly what he thought was a huge log bumped into him. It was too late when he discovered it was a crocodile that bit his left arm and dragging him into the deeper part of the river.

Tihada Abulasan, Diego’s father, said he rushed to the river armed with a bolo when his two younger sons reported the attack.

“I saw wild trashing in the water. I dove into the water but it was too murky. I did not see Diego and I thought the crocodile has succeeded in taking him into deeper water. To my surprise, I saw Diego surface later,” he said.

Diego sustained a gaping wound in his left arm as well as cuts and abrasions on his leg. He was brought to a hospital at Brooke’s Point in Palawan for treatment. Doctors said his arm wound was infected.

On 1 December 2018, authorities captured a 15.6-foot-long saltwater crocodile believed responsible for the death of 33-year-old Cornelio Bonete whose mutilated body was found on 28 November 2018.

Authorities are still looking for the crocodile that attacked Diego. But a few cynics said the authorities are looking at the wrong place, adding they would have better luck in the city where many such reptilian creatures congregate, particularly those whose preferred diet is pork.