3 kids dead, 3 missing in boat sinking off Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines - The three youngest members of a family of nine, who reportedly went missing when their boat capsized off Iloilo on New Year’s Day have died, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported yesterday. 

Cristop Jan Rualio, 2; Cristel Jane Rualio, 6; and Jesabel Bartolome, 10, reportedly succumbed to hypothermia and were pronounced dead on arrival at the Jesus Colmenaries District Hospital in Balasan, Iloilo. 

Five survived the incident, but three others remain missing.

Anthony Bartolome, 14; Jay -Besonia, 22; and Vincent Bartolome, 15, were last seen holding on to a rope and drifting near Manigo-nigo Island. 

The survivors were identified as Reynaldo Bartolome, Marivic Bartolome, Ruffa Bartolome, Jeramiel Besonia and Glorijane Rualio. 

Initial information received by the PCG head office showed that 11 members of the Bartolome family spent New Year’s Eve at the house of a relative on Nabunut Island in Carles, Iloilo. 

They were on board F/B Reynaldo to return home to Barangay Asluman on North Gigante Island when they encountered rough seas.

The survivors and fatalities were found in Barangay Punta in Carles, Iloilo at around 2 p.m. on Friday. – With Jennifer Rendon