According to PCG spokesperson Commodore Armando Balilo their search and rescue team has been searching diligently for missing survivors near the area where the sea mishap occurred. Photo courtesy PCG FB page
THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has announced that it will not stop its search and rescue operations to locate the missing fishermen who were list after their boat collided with a cargo vessel on Saturday afternoon off the coast of Palawan.
Barely a week after the sea mishap that claimed the lives of seven people in Quezon, seven Filipino fishermen went missing after their fishing boat collided with the Marshall Islands-flagged MV Happy Hiro near Maracanao Island in Agutaya.
According to PCG spokesperson Commodore Armando Balilo their search and rescue team has been searching diligently for missing survivors near the area where the sea mishap occurred.
In a media briefing, Balilo told reporters that the fishing boat, capsized in the Sulu Sea with 13 of its 20 crew members plucked from the water by another fishing boat before being transferred to Happy Hiro, which was en route to Lipata, Culasi in Antique.
PCG identified those rescued as Donde Petiero, 38; Roderico Mata, 31; Randy Mata, 36; Renie Espinosa, 38; Mario Quezon, 24; Sammuel Ducay, 40; Rendil Dela Peña, 42; Martin Flores Jr., 58; Jupiter Ibañiez, 38; Andring Pasicaran, 43; Jonel Mata, 30; Joemar Pahid, 32; and Arjay Barsaga, 26.
Undertaking the search for the list fishermen are coast guard vessels from the PCG’s Cuyo and Agutay stations, and also the Parola-class patrol vessel BRP Suluan (MRRV-4406).
Prior to the mishap, seven people were earlier killed and 127 rescued after a fire ripped through a ferry while it was traveling about a kilometer from Real in Quezon province.
