3 Dutch tourists, 2 Pinoy guides missing in Siquijor

Three Dutch tourists and their two Filipino guides went missing during a boat trip to a central Philippine island, police said Saturday.

Marcel Wilderom, his brother Jacob, and Nicklass Bisschop left Siquijor island around noon Wednesday for a 1-1/2-hour outrigger ride on rough waters to Apo islet in Negros Oriental, but never reached it, police said.

The Wilderom brothers from Breda, Netherlands, arrived Monday at the Coral Cay resort, where they met Bisschop of Diemen, who came there a week earlier, said resort manager Helen Gerdin.

The Dutchmen rented the boat from local fishermen for the trip to Apo where they planned to do snorkeling, Gerdin said.

The islet, a popular diving area and part of a marine sanctuary, is about 20 kilometers west of Siquijor.

Gerdin said she became worried when the guests and their guides did not return Wednesday night. She said the islet was unreachable by radio at night.

She said she reported the men missing the following day after she was told by the staff of an Apo resort that the group never arrived there. A relative of one of the guides, who works at the marine sanctuary, also said he had not seen the men, she said.

Police, Coast Guard and local fishermen have joined in the search.

"I hope they are still alive and had taken shelter somewhere," said Rear Adm. Reuben Lista, Philippine Coast Guard chief.

Lista said the crew of the missing pumpboat Sto. Niño should have been aware that waters off Siquijor at this month can turn choppy in the afternoon.

He added that the unregistered boat is involved in fishing and could have just ferried the tree Dutch tourists for added income.

The Coast Guard, he admitted, is currently having difficulties monitoring an estimated 100,000 unregistered pumpboats nationwide due to the absence of a law requiring pumpboat owners to register their vehicles. – Mike Frialde