They endured curious stares inside the train with their bright orange deflated tugboat.

“Traffic was not moving at all, so we had to take all measures to get there as soon as we could,” said Lt. Jr. Grade Crisanto Anas, who has been with the Coast Guard Special Operations group for eight years.

“We reached Marikina at about 9:30-10 p.m. already, so we had to get to work quickly and save as many people as possible,” he said.

When they reached SM Marikina after alighting on the Santolan station, the crew inflated the tugboat and braved the rampaging waters in the streets. They concentrated their efforts on Provident Hills, one of the hardest hit places by Typhoon Ondoy.

“When we came, the people cheered. Their reaction was like, ‘finally, somebody came.’ Some even cried (in relief),” Anas said in Filipino.

“Our first rescues were two women who had just given birth. We heard about their cases from the neighbors so we went to them first so the babies would not catch cold,” he said.

Petty Officer First Class Wilson Doco, who had been working in Coast Guard rescue missions for 16 years, said they took the women, along with the others they rescued, in a secure place near SM Marikina, so other emergency units could attend to them.

In all, the small crew aboard the tugboat saved between 75 and 80 individuals with ages ranging from a few weeks old to 80 years old.

The crew also retrieved three bodies from Provident Villages, Anas said.

Seaman 2nd Class Ryan Dela Cruz recalled taking in a young man who wanted to check his on grandfather who had been left inside their house.

“He said he had told his grandfather to stay put in the house and make sure to lock all the windows and never open them,” he said.

“When we checked out the house, the windows were open, and he had apparently drowned,” Dela Cruz said. The man, whose name he never got, wept in regret, he added.

Doco said they had gotten used to rescue missions and had learned long ago not to be swept by emotion.

“I also participated in the Princess of the Stars mission, so I’m used to this kind of situation. I have to be professional and not be emotional,” he said.

But he added that inwardly, he always “talked” to the corpses they discover, especially when they could not be retrieved immediately. “I tell them: ‘I’m sorry. We can’t get you now, but I promise we’ll be back,’” he said. “It’s my way of honoring them,” Doco said.

The toll of harrowing rescue missions could also hit hard: "There came a point where I began having nightmares about them," he said.