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Monday, April 11, 2005
4 fishers survive sea ordeal by eating clothes
MANILA -- Four fishermen had to eat their clothes, a few squid and pieces peeled off from their fishing boat's bamboo outrigger to survive a 20-day sea ordeal in the shark-infested South China Sea before being rescued.
This was a rare display of courage and will power to stay alive by four Filipino fishermen--Zaldy Papatani, 49; Jimmy Francis, 27; Roland Mercado, 25; and Pedro Isidro, 22--when their fishing boat drifted into the China Sea after it was cut off from its mother ship last March 21.
Captain Gerry Malabanan, spokesman of the Philippine Navy (PN), confirmed the rescue of the four fishermen from Castillejos, Zambales at 7 a.m. Sunday by the Navy ship BRP General Mariano Alvarez.
A US Navy P3-Orion plane, an anti-submarine aircraft of the US 7th Fleet, spotted the missing boat M/V Maria Evelyn on Saturday drifting near the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys.
The Philippine government had requested the US Pacific Command based in Hawaii to help in the search for the fishing boat with four persons on board, which has been missing since March 21.
Radio
Malabanan said the US immediately dispatched the P3 Orion plane to search for the fishing boat in the South China Sea.
The pilot of the US aircraft immediately radioed the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila on Saturday, giving the exact coordinate of the fishing vessel.
Malabanan said that based on earlier radio dispatches from the fishing boat before their radio conked out, the four fishermen said they were forced to eat their clothes, some squid they caught from time to time and pieces peeled of their bamboo outrigger in order to survive. They did not say if they had run out of drinking water.
Water
Malabanan said the fishermen may have had to conserve water they brought with them or they drank from collected rainwater.
They brought only food and water good for four days when they left Castillejos for Scarborough, a rich fishing ground, last March 21. They expected to be back four days later but the rope connecting them to their mother ship snapped.
Efforts to track them down proved futile due to big waves. The area is said to be shark-infested.
While the fishermen had a radio with them they apparently had no maps. They did not know where they were.
The Philippine Navy and Coast Guard continued to search for the missing four fishermen for more than two weeks.
When they could not find them, the Navy asked for assistance from the US Pacific Command, which promptly sent an Orion plane, Malabanan said.
The Philippine government was thankful to the US assistance, he said.
But Malabanan said the Navy gave credit to Captain Benjie Escobal, a private pilot and a reporter of radio station DZRH, who first reported the incident. Escobal is also a member of Decade, a civic organization composed of licensed private pilots in Metro Manila.
Escobal, through DZRH, played a crucial part in the rescue of the missing fishermen, Malabanan said.
Medical check
According to Malabanan, the four fishermen are now on board the BRP General Mariano Alvarez, skippered by Commodore Carlos Aberto.
A Navy doctor had examined the four fishermen after they were picked up from their 20-day ordeal, he said.
The ship is expected to arrive in Manila at 9 a.m. Monday. (PNA)
(April 11, 2005 issue)
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