Attack on fishermen in Sulu leaves 1 dead, 2 missing, 4 survivors

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—A group of seven fishermen from this city sailed for the Sulu Seas 10 days ago and came back on Tuesday (May 5) with one of them dead and two others missing.

Joel Dignos, one of the four survivors, told the Inquirer that the group left this city on April 25 but it was on May 4 past midnight when its ordeal began.

Dignos said they were on the seas off Pangutaran town, Sulu, when men on two small bancas positioned on both sides of their fishing boat began shooting at them.

He was roused from sleep to realize they were being attacked.

As everyone took cover, one of the seven fishermen called out to turn the generator off so that their lights would go out and they would not be seen by the attackers.

The captain of the fishing boat, identified by Dignos as Crispin Mahuyod Sr., stood to turn the generator off but fell in a hail of bullets, according to Dignos.

He said two fishermen jumped off the boat and were possibly hit by bullets. They haven’t been found.

He said it could have been a case of mistaken identity because he could not recall any misunderstanding between the fishermen and any one in the Sulu town that could have prompted the attack. Besides, the fishermen were out at sea all the time.

Dignos said the fishermen seized the chance to flee when they gained some distance from their attackers, who appeared to have been snagged in fish nets that had been laid out in the water earlier.

At the Zamboanga City Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) station, the fishermen reported the attack and pleaded for help to travel home to bring their boat captain’s body.

Commander Paul Ryan Gonzales, chief of the PCG station here, said the surviving fishermen docked at the village of Dumagoc when they arrived with the body of their captain which was quickly brought to a morgue.

Gonzales identified the three other survivors as Sergio Arañez, Dario Bas and Roque Subing-subing and the two missing fishermen as Joseph Delmiguez and Nicanor Cuer.

He said the fishermen did not coordinate with PCG when they left the city on April 25 nor when they arrived in Sulu on April 27. He said that the Pagadian PCG station is now coordinating with PCG’s Zamboanga station for reports on the missing fishermen.

Edited by TSB