10 passengers survive boat sinking in Cagayan

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines  – All the 10 remaining passengers of the motorized boat that sank off Santa Ana town in northernmost Cagayan province over the week are safe, police confirmed yesterday.

Chief Inspector Jay-R Cumigad, Santa Ana police chief, said the survivors of the sunken motorboat Jessa, a 15-meter wooden hulled boat, that sank off Sitio Adeling, Barangay Patnanungan in the said town Saturday, are now recuperating in Ilagan, Isabela.

This came while the government’s ban on sea travel by small bancas along the northern Isabela-Cagayan coasts was still in effect following last December’s sinking of another seacraft where more than 50 of its passengers drowned.

Two of the 12 boat’s passengers, Baby Pascua and Hilario Hidalgo , of Divilican town in Isabela’s Pacific coast drowned after their said boat capsized reportedly due to gusty winds brought about by a cold front along Cagayan’s Pacific coast.

Reports, however, indicated that there were no signs of weather disturbance before the boat sailed for Santa Ana Saturday morning.

The survivors as well as the remains of the two fatalities were recovered during the search, rescue and retrieval operations conducted by the Maritime, Navy and Coast Guard hours after the tragedy.