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Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Sick child 'saved' 54 passengers of sunken ferry
By Ben Serrano
Caraga Correspondent
SURIGAO CITY -- A child passenger suffering from seasickness at the time m/v Leonida II was sinking saved the lives of 54 people during the incident.
Montenegro Shipping Lines-Surigao del Norte operations branch officer Rainier Villanueva claimed that a passenger kid bound for Dapa town who was vomiting at that time was the first to see the sinking boat.
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Montenegro Shipping Lines owns and operates "roro" type vessel m/v Maria Sophia, which rescued the 54 survivors.
"It was the kid vomiting at that time at the back portion of m/v Maria Sophia who saw first the sinking boat at 1:35 p.m., prompting our boat captain to maneuver his ship back to rescue passengers," said Villanueva.
Ship captain Juan Manalo and other crewmembers of m/v Maria Sophia were not able to get the name of the girl passenger because they got so busy rescuing passengers from the sinking motorboat.
Other office personnel of the Montenegro Shipping said m/v Maria Sophia crew radioed the firm's office in Surigao City about the incident.
It was Montenegro Shipping who immediately informed the Coast Guard office in Surigao about the incident.
"Since the Coast Guard lacked a motorboat that time, they even borrowed our fast craft, m/v City of Lucena, to beef up rescue operations," Villanueva said.
Accounts of survivors claimed that had it not been for the rescue efforts of m/v Maria Sophia, they could have died at sea.
Ryan Ganhinhin said it was m/v Maria Sophia who saved his life and 53 other survivors who were floating at the sea off Bilisan Point and Hinatuan Island.
Ganhinhin claimed he nearly lost consciousness due to tiredness when he was rescued.
"At that time when the boat was already sinking, many of the survivors especially those who don't know how to swim had to cling to other survivors who are grasping for breath," Ganhinhin said.
"I was lucky I got hold of a styrofoam box, which enabled me to float. We have been floating for more than an hour when m/v Maria Sophia rescued us...had it been late many of us wouldn't have survived," Ganhinhin recalled.
Manalo said they were able to rescue 54 survivors including a four-month-old baby found together with her one-year-old sister atop a floating styrofoam box.
A foreigner passenger of m/v Maria Sophia who saw the two kids floating aboard a stryfoam box asked permission from the ship's crew then jumped into the sea and saved the kids, said Villanueva.
The "roro" ship also fished out from the sea three dead victims later identified as Kerney Kim Madrio, five, Arlene Sulima, 35, and Del Carmen Municipal Civil Registrar Lina Jornales, 40.
Relatives of dead victims said they are filing a damage suit against operators and owners of m/v Leonida II owned by couples Domingo and Leonida Paredes.
The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), which issued Certificate of Public Conveyance to all motorboats in the country, said it is investigating the incident. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (November 29, 2006 issue)
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