'We were saved by the moonlight'

BATANGAS City, Philippines – By the light of the moon, several passengers of the ill-fated M/V Baleno 9 managed to make their way to safety.

“We survived, thanks to the moonlight that served as our guiding light in escaping from the sinking ferry,” Alberto Perez, 25, told The STAR.

Perez, a resident of Barangay 24 RR Station in Batangas City, was one of 66 passengers who survived the sinking of the ferry off San Agapito point in Isla Verde, Batangas City Saturday night.

“I thought we would die when people fell all over me, but it’s good that the moonlight was bright and I found my way out of the ferry,” Perez said as he lay in bed at the Batangas Regional Hospital.

Perez said in spite of the panic, he was able to lift up an elderly woman to the surface of the sea before he was able to cling onto a wooden board.

“I was able to push two kids to safety but I don’t know if they survived,” Perez said, holding back tears.

Perez suffered contusions on his chest, legs and arms when passengers fell on top and stepped on him in the rush to get out of the air-conditioned room of the vessel.

“There were so many children, I couldn’t imagine how to save them all,” he recalled.

Perez said he even shouted at the passengers not to panic and guided them out of the room. “After helping an elderly, I went down in the water again to help others but I was stepped on and almost lost my breath.”

Perez said the incident happened so fast they hardly had time to react upon being roused from sleep. “We woke up only when people were already shouting and in a little while water came rushing in.”

“I weep when I remember the children left inside the ferry, I could only pray for them as I floated in the dark,” Perez said between sobs.

Perez added that they were rescued by passing M/V Reina delos Angeles of the Montenegro Shipping Lines while the others were saved by M/V Baleno 3 after an hour drifting at sea.

“MWe are thankful that the moon was bright so the rescuers could locate us while floating at sea,” he said.

Perez, together with his friend Michael Palipay, almost died of hypothermia. “The water was so cold if the rescuers didn’t arrive soon we might have died from the cold.”

Perez was admitted to the hospital and placed under medical observation after swallowing seawater with gasoline and engine oil from the vessel. Palipay however survived the incident unscathed.

Perez said they left Calapan port bound for Batangas at around 9:30 p.m. and sank at around 9:45 p.m.

“When we reached Verde Island the waves were so huge the water entered the front portion of the ferry until we gradually sank.”

Perez said he even saw one family still sleeping inside their van when the vessel sank.

Perez told The STAR that he already noticed the roll-on, roll-off (RORO) vessel tilting to its portside before sailing from Calapan port.

“It’s possible we were overloaded because there were many vehicles and passengers coming from Christmas holiday in Mindoro,” he said.

Coast guard officials said they will conduct an immediate marine inquiry on the vessel’s captain and crew as the manifest apparently listed only 20 passengers.