Distressed motorboat off Apo Island, Navy rescues 20 tourists

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Philippine Navy crew have rescued foreigners and Filipino tourists on board a motorized banca that encountered engine trouble in the seawaters, about five nautical miles northeast of Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental yesterday morning.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Froilan Villariza, executive officer of the BRP Jose Andrada, said all of the 20 passengers and four crew members of the M/B Esmeralda del Mar were safely brought to Apo Island by 12:20 p.m. or about an hour and a half after the distress call.

The passengers, five of them children, consisted of 10 Americans, two Britons, one German and three Filipinos, said Villariza.

The motorized banca came from Coco Grove Resort in Siquijor Island and was sailing to Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental.

At around 10:40 a.m., the Navy’s BRP Jose Andrada received a distress call informing that the motorboat had lost its rudder and was just adrift at sea.

The motorboat crew, headed by boat master Pretty Boy Manalastas, were able to present documents that showed it was duly registered in Siquijor province and was given clearance by the Coast Guard in that island to depart that day.

The BRP Jose Andrada has been deployed to patrol the seas in Negros Oriental and some parts of southern Negros Occidental during the Holy Week, as part of the security measures amid the rise of number of tourists to the provinces at this time of the year, said Villariza. - THE FREEMAN