4 fishers off Bataan coast survive mishap

ANGELES CITY – Four rescued persons who were reported to be among the passengers of a passenger boat that collided with a cargo vessel off the coast of Corregidor island last Sunday were actually survivors of yet another sea mishap on the same day in the area of Grande island, the Philippine Coast Guard in Bataan clarified yesterday.

Coast guard Lt. Allen Dalangin told The STAR that the four fishermen were initially among those included in the list of persons rescued from the collision, but it later turned out that they were on a much smaller fishing boat which was overturned by big waves Sunday near Grande island several kilometers from Corregidor. Dalangin could not immediately give the identities of the four fishermen, all residents of Barangay Calapangan in Subic, Zambales, but said all of them were in good health and had returned to their families.

He said the four victims, on board the fishing boat named Maricel I, ventured to the sea to fish but were overwhelmed by bad weather. Their boat capsized but they managed to hold on to flotsams.

"Coast guard boats were prevented by strong waves from reaching them, but we were able to contact a Panamanian cargo ship passing by to seek help," Dalangin said.

The Panamanian ship MV Honey Sun then diverted route nearer the estimated site of the accident, and fished out all the four fishermen holding on to floating objects. Coast guard men then later fetched them from the ship.

Dalangin said that while none of the victims in the collision in the Corregidor area has been found in the area off the coast of Bataan, coast guard personnel in the province have remained on alert for more survivors. — Ding Cervantes