Wednesday, June 25, 2008 14 Negrense fishermen dead; 174 still missing By Erwin Ambo S. Delilan
A total of 16 bodies, all fishermen from Negros Occidental and Iloilo provinces, were reportedly recovered in Masbate, Burias Island and Romblon as of press time Tuesday.
Of the 16 fatalities, 14 were from Cadiz City in Negros Occidental while two were from Estancia, Iloilo.
Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., head of Task Force Mananagat (TFM), also said 174 Negros fishermen remain missing - 147 from Cadiz City, 23 from Sagay and four from Hinoba-an.
The mayor also said 396 survivors out of the 547 Negrense fishermen victimized by typhoon Frank over the weekend were found.
"13 of whom already arrived safe in Cadiz City and were treated but released later yesterday from the Cadiz City Emergency Clinic."
The casualties from Negros Occidental were identified as Renato 'Rey' Baring from F/B Jin-Jin 3 of Samsom Yap, Justo Sarsuelo and Pablo Cordova from CYC Fishing of Robert Uy.
Others were Joseph Sesdoyro, Marcelo Desuyo and Sandy Guilos from trawl number 1 of Allan Daniel, while Jose Rey Mansueto, Rhodney Otto, Orlando Sevilleno, Dante Oftana, Roselito Dales and Elmer Sagal worked for the Seaquest Fishing Ventures of Edgar Allan Sotelo. Two others remained unnamed but their bodies were reportedly at the Lawa-an Elementary School in Capiz as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Escalante said.
The two other fatalities from Estancia, Iloilo were named as Eking Regala, 18, and Jethro Olaliva, 32, whose bodies were recovered in Cauayan, Masbate but were buried immediately after the remains were found to be in an advanced state of decomposition, said a report from the Negros Occidental Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Those who survived 'Frank's' wrath and were already back in Cadiz City Tuesday were named as Alvie Macalso, 28, from barangay Daga; Lucio Quijano, 59, from purok Sto. Niño; Hermie Layao, 24, from barangay Daga; Ranilo Cruta, 38, from barangay Zone 1; Antonio Pasilan, 51, from Bantayan, Cebu; Dondon Java, 25, from Dumaguete City; Elias Pasicaran, 47, from barangay Zone VI; Antonio de la Peña, 54, from purok Tinago; Rafael Caracela, 47, from barangay Zone IV; Geoffrey Pasigay, 38, from barangay Zone IV; Roderick Quijano, 31, from barangay Zone IV; Marlon Salve, 26 from barangay Zone VI and Renie Bulo, 29, from barangay Tinampa-an.
Aside from the Cadiznons and Sagaynons, three Escalanteños also survived on board MV Nichole Louis 2. They are now under the care of kagawad Darigold Severino of Placer, Masbate. With them was another survivor, Salvador Cena Marcos, 38, from purok Bok-Bok in Cadiz City.
Fishermen Ronald Navarra and Jorly Belasa Francisco, both from Estancia and from Baybay, Carles, Iloilo, respectively, were also reportedly rescued and are now in safe condition.
On the other hand, search, rescue and retrieval operations for the still missing Negrense fishermen, including those who survived and are still in Masbate, Capiz and Romblon, started Tuesday after two helicopters from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) central command in Cebu arrived in Cadiz City at around 2 p.m.
Mayor Escalante also said two big trawl boats loaded with lime (apog) and blocks of ice will depart from Cadiz City early morning Wednesday, to be used for the island-to-island search and retrieval operations.
Cadiz City Vice Mayor Samson Mirhan will lead the two trawl boats with scores of rescuers from Create (Cadiz Rescue Emergency Action Team, Inc.) as back up.
These two boats will be used to ferry back home the survivors and the cadavers of those who drowned. As per instruction from Mayor Escalante, the cadavers will be coated with lime and iced to minimize the foul odor while being transported by rescuers from Masbate, Romblon and Capiz to Cadiz City.
Two military choppers will also be used for the search and rescue operations Wednesday, Escalante said.
The provincial government is shouldering the fuel expenses of the two choppers.
"We will do everything we can just to rescue and retrieve all our Negrense fishermen who were victimized by typhoon Frank," assured Escalante. "Sad to say, we have a lot of fatalities."
Mourning
"The entire Cadiz City is now mourning the loss of several of our fishermen," he lamented.
He said he pity the victims but explained that what happened was beyond their control. "(Today), we will declare our entire city under a state of calamity. This way, we could at least use some substantial amount from our P15-million calamity fund to assist the immediate needs of the families of our fishermen-victims."
Charter Day
The tragedy happened days before their City's 41st Charter Day on July 4.
"With this, I just want to have a very simple Charter Day celebration to be highlighted only by a concelebrated mass with special intention for the souls of our dead fishermen."
"Instead of spending millions of pesos for our Charter Day, we will use the amount in helping the grieving families of our unfortunate fishermen," added Escalante.
P.5Billion
Mirhan said their city incurred about P.5 billion damages with the 22 commercial fishing boats that capsized.
The 22 ill-fated boats from Cadiz were those of CYC Fishing Ventures, Seaquest Fishing Ventures, Tristar Fishing Corporation, Rico Fishing, Gidor Fishing, Alaska Fishing and Laura Fishing, and also those of Allan Daniel, Samson Yap and Peter Alvin Lim.
The computation, he said, was based on the current pricing like the purse seiner at P40 million each, trawl boat - P5 million each, escort boat -P3 million each and light boat at P5 million each.
