| Situation Update No. 2 Ref.no.: VI-20091226-24323-PHL
Situation Update No. 2
On 2009-12-28 at 04:53:02 [UTC]
Event: Vehicle Accident
Location: Philippines Province of Batangas Verde Island
Number of Deads: 6 person(s)
Number of Missing: 32 person(s)
Number of Evacuated: 66 person(s)
Situation: At least six persons, including an 11-month-old baby girl, were confirmed dead, while 32 persons were still missing as of yesterday afternoon, when a roll-on, roll-off passenger-cargo vessel sank at the San Agapito point in Isla Verde near Calapan City on Saturday night. 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 (PNRC) in Oriental Mindoro. Both funeral homes are in Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro. De Leon identified three of the dead in Funeraria Naujan as Juny Mutya, 36, from Socorro, Oriental Mindoro; Lealyn Peñaranda, 2; and 11-month-old Angelica Balanza of Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro. Balanza's father Dennis, a fisherman, survived but he said his wife Haydeline was lost in the sea. One body, that of an unidentified woman, was already decomposing, prompting De Leon to ask the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The other two dead at the St. Peter Funeral Chapel were identified as John Panagsaga of Aklan and Jenelyn Gutierrez of Calapan City, said De Leon. A cash amount of P200,000, which was bundled in a cloth, was retrieved by police rescuers led by Senior Supt. Sonny Ricablanca, Oriental Mindoro provincial police director, from the victim named Mutya. Lawyer Luningning Centron, PNRC Oriental Mindoro chair 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 resulting in high fever. Lt. Algier Ricafrente, PCG Calapan City station commander, said the bodies of the dead from the MV Baleno 9 were retrieved in Isla Verde near Calapan City Sunday morning. Sixty-six persons were rescued at around 10:45 p.m. Saturday. The Baleno 9 was bound for Batangas City from Calapan City when it sank, two days after another passenger vessel, the MV Catalyn B, sank Thursday off the coast of Maragondon town in Cavite, near the mouth of Manila Bay, while on its way to Lubang island in Occidental Mindoro from North Harbor in Manila. PCG Batangas station Commander Troy Cornelio said Baleno 9 was hit by big waves, causing it to sink. MV Baleno 9, an interisland vessel operated by Besta Shipping Lines, left the port of Calapan at 9:18 p.m. on Saturday. Dennis, a fisherman and the father of one of the dead, 11-year-old Angelica Balanza, said the boat's officers did not issue an alarm when water got inside the boat. The Batangas police, Coast Guard and personnel of the Besta Shipping, were 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 yesterday morning already went home after medical checkup and some interview, Cornelio added. Six other survivors arrived at Batangas Port around 3 p.m. on Sunday from Calapan. The survivors were identified as Ken Mark Musni, Brian Musni, Aries Musni, Jonathan Umali, Fhrea Musni and Fidel Musni. Capt. Lino Paiton, deputy district commander of Coast Guard Southern Tagalog, said they were still verifying Sen. Richard Gordon's statement that the cause of capsizing was 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 held. Cornelio reported lapses by crewmen of the ill-fated vessel. He cited errors in the entries of names on the manifest and he said that only 20 passengers were listed on the manifest. The captain identified as Jimmy Andal had abandoned the ship and 15 crew members had already left after giving their statements and eating. He also said Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza would be forming Monday a Board of Marine Inquiry and designate members to investigate the sinking and determine the culpability of the owner of the shipping Lines, lawyer Patrick Ang. |
