Rescuers survive

Saturday, February 11, 2012

A MOTORIZED banca crammed with passengers and relief goods got stalled in Tañon Strait yesterday afternoon after violent waves broke one of its outriggers.

About 80 passengers were rescued, including volunteers from the Philippine Red Cross, on their way to the quake-stricken La Libertad, Negros Oriental.

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Two military helicopters and a naval boat were sent out to rescue the mv Agape, said Lt. Commander Agapito Bibat of the Philippine Coast Guard station in Dumaguete City.

Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco told Sun.Star Cebu the vessel departed from their wharf at 12 p.m.

It carried, among others, 100 sacks of rice, water and other relief items for the victims of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the seas near Tayasan, Negros Oriental last Monday morning.

The mayor said the authorities received a text at 2:04 p.m. that the boat was stranded after its outrigger broke.

To make sure they would not sink, the passengers and crew had to throw some of the relief items to the sea.

Two mild aftershocks were also felt in the southern Cebu town yesterday. As of 6 last night, at least 1,494 aftershocks were recorded since Monday morning’s quake. Ninety of these aftershocks were strong enough to be felt.

Roughly 100 seafarers were stranded at the Ronda wharf after trips were put on hold yesterday. They didn’t complain, though. They understood their safety had to be assured.

Panic

While those at the wharf waited for news of the Agape’s passengers, a woman received an unconfirmed text message from a relative that the boat sank.

The rumor alarmed some of the passengers, which compelled Mayor Blanco to calm them down.

“Dili sa ‘ta mag-tuo-tuo dayon. Mas maayo nga mag-ampo ‘ta diri (Let’s not believe everything we hear right away. We’d be better off praying),” he said.

Efren Celestial, 52, told Sun.Star Cebu the Negros Oriental-based vessel already had trouble during his earlier trip from Cantupa wharf in La Libertad to Ronda.

“Hapit sad mi ma-unlod kay kusog kaayo ang bawod (We nearly sank because the waves were huge),” he said.

Celestial, a fisherman, went to Ronda to get his three children. They had to suspend the trip yesterday.

“Mas importante ang kinabuhi (Our lives are more important),” he said.

Boxes of goods and other equipment were seen at the wharf, while passengers waited for trips to resume.

Safe

The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), for its part, confirmed that the mv Agape arrived in La Libertad yesterday afternoon.

Cindy Concon of the OCD 7 operations staff told Sun.Star Cebu the boat reached the coastal barangay of Cantupa, La Libertad at 4:10 p.m.

La Libertad and Guihulngan in Negros Oriental are among the areas hit hardest by the earthquake. Of the 41 confirmed dead as of yesterday, 17 were from Guihulngan and eight were from La Libertad.

Coast Guard officers from Dumaguete City will investigate what caused the mv Agape’s problems, said the chief of the Coast Guard Cebu Station.

Commander Rolando Punzalan has yet to identify who owns the motorboat.

Weather officials also announced yesterday that rains are expected in Cebu after a low-pressure area (LPA) was seen about 230 kilometers east southwest of Hinatuan City in Mindanao.

Rescue

Ella Comahig of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration Mactan station said the LPA may bring moderate rain showers and thunderstorms over Metro Cebu.

Strong to gale force winds will affect the northern and western seaboards of Northern Luzon and the eastern seaboard of the country, the weather bureau reported in its website.

Earlier this week, rains also forced search and rescue teams to briefly suspend their work in Guihulngan and La Libertad, where 28 and 39 persons, respectively, are still missing after a landslide.

Rescuers from the military and police, assisted by volunteers from mining companies and various local governments, are working to help Negros Oriental recover from the quake.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has appealed for donations of these items: drinking water, medicine, tents, food, field oxygen tanks, fuel, clothes, blankets, mosquito nets, basic toiletries, portable camp stoves, rechargeable emergency lights and flashlights with batteries.