6 dead, 46 missing as another ferry sinks By Marrah Erika Lesaba, Madonna Virola
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 01:02:00 12/27/2009
Filed Under: Maritime Accidents
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Close this MANILA, Philippinesâ€â€Â(UPDATE 6) A roll-on roll-off ferry with 88 passengers and crew sank off Batangas province around 10 p.m. Saturday leaving six people dead and many missing, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.
The Mindoro Post reported that 46 were missing but only 32 have been identified.
Four of the fatalities were brought to the Funeraria Naujan while two were taken to the St. Peter Funeral Chapel, said Guada Fe de Leon, provincial administrator of the Philippine National Red Cross in Oriental Mindoro. Both funeral homes are in Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro.
De Leon identified the fatalities in St. Peter Funeral Chapel as John Panagsaga of Aklan and Jenelyn Gutierrez of Calapan City.
The three other fatalities in Funeraria Naujan were identified as Juny Mutya, 36, from Socorro, Oriental Mindoro; Lealyn Peñaranda, 2; and an 11-month-old Angelica Balanza of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro.
Balanza’s father Dennis, a fisherman, survived but said his wife Haydeline got lost. He said the boat's officers did not issue an alarm when water got inside the boat.
An unidentified body of a woman was already decomposing, prompting De Leon to ask the help of the National Bureau of Investigation.
A cash amount of P200,000, which was bundled in a cloth, was retrieved by police rescuers led by Senior Superintendent Sonny Ricablanca, Oriental Mindoro provincial police director, from the victim Mutya.
Lawyer Luningning Centron, PNRC Oriental Mindoro chairman and also a native of Socorro town like Mutya, said she would facilitate the turnover of the money to his family.
Two other children, John Paul, 7, and Nina Angeline, 13, were hospitalized due to trauma leading to high fever.
Lieutenant Algier Ricafrente, PCG Calapan City station commander, said the fatalities were retrieved in Isla Verde near Calapan City Sunday morning. Sixty-six persons were rescued at around 10:45 p.m. Saturday.
Authorities were still trying to determine the cause of the sinking, but some of the survivors were quoted as saying that water seeped into the ferry’s bow, causing the vessel to tilt on its side and eventually sink, Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo, Coast Guard spokesman, told radio dzMM.
A passenger of one of the passing ships, which rescued some passengers from the sunken vessel, told another radio station that Baleno 9, was hit by big waves while passing through the waters off Verde Island.
PCG Batangas station Commander Troy Cornelio confirmed this.
Balilo stressed that the ferry, an inter-island vessel operated by Besta Shipping Lines, was not overloaded since it has a capacity for 250 passengers. It left the port of Calapan at 9: 18 p.m. Saturday.
Balilo said the coast guard dispatched additional search and rescue ships and helicopters to help find and save the missing passengers and crew.
As of posting time, the coast guard, the Batangas police, and personnel of the Besta Shipping were still conducting search and rescue operations.
Sixty-six persons were rescued by a passing vessel of the Montenegro Shipping Lines, Coast Guard, Batangas police and personnel from MV Besta Shipping Lines, operator of the Baleno 9.
Two rescued persons identified as Alberto Perez and Archie Amalio were recuperating at Batangas Regional Hospital, Cornelio said.
Many of the 17 survivors who comprised the first batch that arrived at Batangas Port Sunday morning went home after being given medical checkups and after being interviewed, Cornelio added.
Six other survivors arrived at Batangas Port at around 3 p.m. Sunday from Calapan. They were identified as Ken Mark Musni, Brian Musni, Aries Musni, Jonathan Umali, Fhrea Musni and Fidel Musni.
Captain Lino Paiton, deputy district commander of Coast Guard Southern Tagalog, said they were still verifying Senator Richard Gordon’s claim that the reason why the ferry capsized was because of the untied vehicles inside the vessel.
Gordon, who was at the Batangas port, did not allow reporters and photographers inside the room where the survivors were being held.
Cornelio reported lapses by crewmen of the ill-fated vessel. He cited errors in the entries of names on the manifest and said that only 20 passengers were listed on the manifest.
The captain, identified as Jimmy Andal, was said to have abandoned ship while 15 crew members who were rescued left after giving their statements about the accident and after they have eaten.
Cornelio said Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza would be forming Monday a Board of Marine Inquiry and designated members to investigate the incident and determine the culpability of the owner of the ship, lawyer Patrick Ang.
DENNIS MALIWANAG, INQUIRER.net
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20091227-244118/Another-ferry-sinks-off-Batangas-25-missing
