published January 14, 2009 in Leyte Samar Daily Express and GMANews.tv
TACLOBAN CITY — Seven people, including a seven-year-old girl, were feared dead after the motorized banca they rode from Eastern Samar province went missing due to bad weather.
Two fishermen in Palapag town, Northern Samar province also remained missing.
Mark Acuyan, 24, and Abonjo Nasam, Sr., 47, both residents of Mapno village, went out to sea on Jan. 8 but have not returned since then, the Office of Civil Defense reported.
In Northern Samar, two more persons drowned, bringing to eight the death toll from the floods and landslides that recently hit the province.
Police in Catarman town identified the fatalities as Victor Castillo of Narra village and Rita Bulan of Hinatad village.
Bienvenido Adesna, chairman of Bantay Dagat in Guiuan town, said in an interview that the motorized banca and its passengers have been missing since Saturday. There has been no sign of survivors.
"The waves went as high as seven meters. We believed that the boat capsized in the Pacific Ocean and there’s no island along its route," said Mr. Adesna, who heads the rescue team formed by the local government unit.
Four mid-sized fishing boats also overturned within the Guiuan area of the Pacific Ocean Sunday afternoon. Mr. Adesna said over 20 fishermen managed to transfer to one boat and safely docked at Homonhon island.
"There were speculations that the missing banca was blown by the strong winds to Surigao area. We called up some residents living in coastal towns of Surigao and they told us that they have not seen any sea mishap survivors there," he added.
The five passengers and two crew were on board M/B Rogen. They were on their way home to Suluan island, about 20 nautical miles off Guiuan town. It takes two to five hours to travel to the island from the mainland depending on weather conditions.
Mr. Adesna said the Philippine Coast Guard in Guiuan prevented the boat from sailing but the crew insisted on leaving at 3 p.m. on Saturday. A search and rescue operation was launched by the Coast Guard after relatives reported the missing passengers.
Missing were Aileen Escoto, 30; Tereso Garado, 20; Alfonso Badar, 50; Aida Mercurio, 35; Perencio Mercurio, 50; Jose Talabera, 45 and Maria Princess Talabera, 7. Perencio Mercurio was said to be the owner and operator of the said motorized banca.
Meanwhile, Arnold Abello, 59, and Rogelio Advincula, 61, sailed back to their hometown in Tolosa, Leyte yesterday morning, three days after they were declared missing. They left the coast of Brgy. San Roque to fish last Saturday evening.
"They just tied up their fishing boat and found shelter during the bad weather," said Rene Amano of the Office of the Civil Defense.
Early on Saturday morning, a family of six was buried alive in the village of Ocad in Lavezares, Northern Samar, some 40 kilometers west of the capital town of Catarman.
The Municipal Social Welfare and Development office in Lavezares identified the fatalities as Edwin dela Cruz, 31, his wife Gemma, 32 and four months pregnant, and their children Dina, 5; Ina, 4; Carla, 2 years and six months; and Rowena, 1.
Incessant rain had caused floods and landslides in several parts of the province, where more than 43,000 individuals were reportedly affected by the calamity in Catarman, Bobon, Mondragon, Palapag and Lavezares towns alone, according to the Northern Samar Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council. - Sarwell Q. Meniano
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