(1st UPDATE) A family voiced deep dismay after a shooting victim died at the Cauayan District Hospital, questioning the facility’s ability to respond to emergencies after it allegedly ran out of oxygen and refused to transfer the patient despite his critical condition.
The victim, Erwin Flores, 30, sustained multiple gunshot wounds during a violent confrontation in Purok 7, Barangay Isio, Cauayan town in Negros Occidental shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2026.
Police identified the suspect as Keyer Agustin, 33, the son of the barangay captain of Barangay Isio.
Both the victim and the suspect live in the same village.
Family accounts said Flores stood along the roadside watching motorcycles with loud exhausts when a firecracker hit his nephew’s foot, causing injury.
The family alleged that a relative of the suspect threw the firecracker.
Flores confronted the youth, who fled and later returned armed with a baseball bat.
The suspect reportedly assaulted Flores and two of his relatives. After initially leaving the area, the suspect allegedly returned and engaged Flores in a heated confrontation, which ended when Agustin shot Flores multiple times in different parts of his body.
A brief struggle over the firearm followed until the victim’s brother intervened.
The firearm purportedly owned by the suspect’s father.
Responders rushed both Flores and the suspect to the district hospital.
In an interview with Brigada News FM Kabankalan on Friday, January 2, Flores’ wife, Trisha Bargamento, claimed that hospital staff told the family that her husband would die at the facility because “no oxygen” was available.
She added that hospital personnel also refused to transfer Flores to another medical facility, despite his worsening condition due to the lack of transport vehicle.
Flores later died from his injuries.
The family is preparing to file criminal charges against the suspect and is calling on authorities to investigate the hospital’s handling of the emergency, particularly the alleged lack of oxygen and the refusal to refer a critically injured patient.
Denial
Cauayan District Hospital has broken its silence on the death of a shooting victim, firmly denying allegations of neglect and oxygen shortage and insisting the patient received proper emergency care on Thursday, January 1.
In an official clarification statement on Friday, January 2, the hospital said that “upon arrival at the Emergency Room, the patient was promptly received, assessed, and provided with the necessary emergency medical management, including oxygen therapy via face mask.”
The hospital stressed that the patient’s condition was critical and unstable, and that the risks were clearly explained to the victim’s partner.
According to the hospital, the attending physician “clearly explained the risks and possible consequences, including respiratory arrest resulting from a fatal gunshot wound, massive blood loss, and trauma-related oxygen deprivation, and not due to lack of oxygen supply in the facility.”
Cauayan District Hospital also asserted that “adequate oxygen supply was available and was promptly administered to the patient,” and that referral to a higher-level medical facility was discussed.
It added that “the ambulance was already prepared and on standby, awaiting the decision of the patient’s partner regarding referral.”
Despite medical intervention, the patient later went into cardiac arrest.
The hospital said “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was immediately performed in accordance with the standard medical protocols; however, despite all efforts, the patient did not survive.”
The hospital “strongly denies all allegations of neglect, lack of oxygen, ambulance unavailability for referral, or preferential treatment,” adding that all actions taken were within standard emergency care protocols and fully documented.
It also urged the public to refrain from making “unfounded accusations that result in unjust hospital and medical staff shaming.”*
Reymund Titong is a Filipino journalist steadily building his voice in the field of news reporting, driven by a commitment to tell meaningful and relevant stories.
He serves as a correspondent for Rappler, maintains a personal blog on Medium, and is the communications officer of Hope Builders Organization Negros Island.