Iloilo sea tragedy: 6 Ermita folk among dead

CEBU, Philippines — Eight of the victims in the sea mishap in Iloilo that took the lives of 31 people last Saturday were residents of Barangay Ermita in Cebu City, local officials said yesterday.

Six of the eight were confirmed dead as of 7:15 last night while two remained missing, Ermita captain Mark Miral told The Freeman.

The fatalities were identified as Romeo Baguio Sr., Angelina Baguio, Romeo Baguio Jr., Dannylyn Baguio, Dannelle Baguio, and Bernardo Janson. The two missing were identified as Romnel Baguio and Jared Janson.

Three motorboats capsized in separate incidents at Guimaras Strait after getting hit by squall, defined as a sudden gust of wind of a localized storm that brings rain, snow, or sleet.

Contrary to reports that surfaced, no collision occurred, said PCG Western Visayas District commander Commodore Allan Dela Vega.

“When the boats left the ports, there was good weather,” Dela Vega said

Miral said they received reports about the eight Sunday dawn.

Mayor Edgardo Labella who visited Ermita yesterday said the city will provide the assistance the families need.

"Atong tagaan gud sa necessary financial assistance kay mga biktima man ni intawon sila. Ang importante karon nga ma-retrieve tong mga lawas didto unya ma-confirm na gani, madala dinhi (We will give them the necessary financial assistance because these are victims. What’s important is to find them and, if confirmed that they perished, their bodies will be brought back to Cebu),” Labella said.

Romhel Baguio, 33, said he lost practically his whole family to the incident.

"Ako mama ug papa unya igsuon nako duha nya pag-umangkon nako duha. Sa akong nahibaw-an, missing man dyud tu tanan akong pamilya, missing man gyud (My parents, two siblings, and two nieces are still missing)," he said yesterday.

He said his family travelled to Guimaras so that Romeo, Jr. could ask for the hand of his girlfriend in marriage. They were supposed to return to Cebu last Saturday.

Report

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, 31 of 96 passengers and crew members were confirmed dead while three others remained missing, the Philippine Coast Guard said. Sixty-two survived the incidents.

Dela Vega said the five crewmen who were on board M/B Keisha 2 all survived the incident.

Meanwhile, M/B Chi Chi had four crewmen and 43 passengers when it left port. Out of the 47 people on board, 35 survived, 11 perished, while one went missing.

M/B Jenny Vice, on the other hand, had 44 people on board, consisting of four crewmen and 40 passengers. Of this number, 22 survived, 20 perished, and two went missing.

“Three were reported missing but this figure could still change. There is a possibility that the three reported missing are already among the 12 new bodies that were recovered. But we could not confirm that as of now since many of the recovered bodies could not be identified,” Dela Vega said yesterday.

“We are not just after the figures. We want to identify them… Their names should be in the passenger manifest because that is the only document that would say that this body is that person,” he added. Philippine Star News Service