Boat capsizes off Sta. Fe; 5 men survive by swimming to Medellin

Five men from Samar province survived from their capsized pump boat in the seas off Santa Fe Thursday afternoon by swimming for about seven to 10 kilometers to reach the shores of barangay Kawit in Medellin Friday morning.

Medellin police station desk officer SPO1 Manuel Alan Tan yesterday told The Freeman that the survivors were boat owner Jonathan Gomez, boat steersman or "timonel" Cayetano Avila, and passengers Edwin Lacierto, Enerio Palajos, and Renato Avila.

The Medellin Police said it received a telephone call at about 6:30 a.m. Friday from Kawit councilman Tirso Seares that the five men set ashore in the barangay earlier that morning.

The five men were residents of barangay Bacjao in the island town of Almagro in Samar, and SPO1 Tan learned that they were transporting sacks of "tahong" shellfish supposedly for Tuburan when their boat capsized due to big waves off barangay Kinatarkan in Santa Fe.

The five said they decided to abandon their capsized boat and chose to swim toward Kawit, which was far from where they met their fate.

Kawit was about seven kilometers away, or farther than the shores of Santa Fe or of Daanbantayan but they decided to go for Kawit to avoid big waves and strong winds along the way.

The survivors, considering the strong winds from the north, swam with the flow of the current to Kawit and reached the town's shores safely. "Ang ilang gihimo mao nga pabor-pabor lang sa hangin ug bawod nga dili sila makasugat," said SPO1 Tan.

Tan said the five were later taken to the Department of Social Welfare and Development office for immediate assistance. - Norvie S. Misa/RAE