Heroes emerge in ship mishap
CAUGHT amid a life-and-death situation, a Bohol-based businessman and his two female employees were witness to two acts of heroism and self-sacrifice last Sunday.
Engineer Anthony Bautista and his female workers Gina Ahog and Antonette Cabillo were headed to Cebu on board the MV Island Express Fastcraft 1 when the ship caught fire and sank four nautical miles off Lawis Ledge, barangay Tangke, Talisay City, at 2 p.m. last Sunday.
Bautista said he was looking for a delivery boy named Jomar Mission, who helped Ahog and Cabillo by swimming with them for an hour before the Bohol-bound Seajet stopped by to rescue them and other passengers.
Before jumping off the ill-fated vessel, Cabillo witnessed how chief mate Alverado Torrevillas Sr. tried to put out the fire in the ship’s engine room.
Torrevillas was one of three people who died in the sinking.
Cousins Matea Enfiesto, a 62-year-old resident of barangay Bacani in Clarin town, Bohol, and 75-year-old Nicitas Cabrera of Panabo, Davao del Norte, died by drowning, Coast Guard authorities said last Sunday.
Bautista said he brought Ahog and Cabillo for a one day trip to Cebu as a reward for their good work performance.
Cabillo said he saw how Torrevillas and the other crew used extinguishers to put out the fire in the engine room to no avail.
“The fire extinguishers didn’t work and the crew had to get water from the restroom in small pails to put out the fire,” Cabillo said.
The passengers scrambled for life jackets after seeing the fire spread throughout the vessel.
Cabillo said Torrevillas gave his life vest to a passenger who failed to get one and was the last one to jump off the sea.
Authorities had yet to verify reports that he drowned or suffered a heart attack while at sea.
Bautista, a businessman who owned a travel agency, a real estate business and a computer shop, had to give his life jacket to a mother and her two-month-old baby. Cabillo later gave a life jacket to him.
But the engineer said he was more amazed with Mission, a delivery boy from Calape town, Bohol province, who helped Ahog and Cabillo survive while cast out to sea.
Bautista said Cabillo and Ahog jumped off the vessel clad in their life jackets when Ahog accidentally detached her vest.
He said the two held hands and sought help from a uniformed man, whom they presumed to be a crew member, after Ahog choked upon swallowing some seawater.
Bautista said the two reportedly overheard the man tell them, “Mag-iyahay na ta karon, day, kay kinabuhi nato atong giluwas (We’re each on our own now because we’re trying to save our own life).”
He said Mission swam with Ahog and Cabillo for an hour until the Seajet fast craft rescued them.
“I will go to Calape town to search for the guy. I will offer him a job for his good deeds,” Bautista said. Bautista said he managed to call up Bohol provincial administrator Alfonso Damalerio when the fire broke out.
He said Damalerio alerted Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto about the accident. Chatto then alerted the Coast Guard.
Bautista said he hoped the Coast Guard will ensure the capability of the crew and the sea worthiness of vessels before they are cleared to sail. Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan
