Relatives of SuperFerry passengers cry for help

Two weeks after the SuperFerry 14 tragedy, President Arroyo was urged by relatives of missing passengers to pool all government resources in searching for their loved ones.

Relatives made the call to the President during a Mass officiated by Fr. Robert Reyes at the Plaza Ferguson in Manila yesterday afternoon.

Reyes also called on telecommunication companies — Globe and Smart — to sponsor pre-paid call cards for the relatives, who make frequent calls to the provinces to update their relatives about the ongoing search operations.

"Relatives of the missing passengers are getting discouraged because the search operation is taking too long," the priest said. "They are getting exhausted morally and financially."

Some relatives of missing passengers are still hopeful that they would be united with their loved ones.

"I don’t want to accept any money, I want my sister alive. We won’t give up, there will be miracle," Evelyn Atienza-Collet said.

Atienza-Collet flew back home from Washington DC to personally coordinate with the authorities in searching for her youngest sister Daisy Atienza, a professor at the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute.

Like Atienza-Collet, Bridget Sena is also looking for her missing sister. Leonor Leyco, 60, who was on her way home to the province when the SuperFerry caught fire.

"We had to take leave of absence from our work just to personally see what the authorities are doing," Sena said.

The Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) started last Thursday its investigation into the fire that hit SuperFerry 14 last Feb. 27. At the time of the tragedy, there were 899 passengers. As of yesterday, 118 remain missing.

The Philippine Coast Guard has asked the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to provide them with equipment to further speed up the search operation inside the ship.