Strong winds and moderate rains caused by a low pressure area located east of Tagbilaran City have made sea travel dangerous to operators of pumpboats, small ferries and outrigger bancas.
Four persons survived when a pumpboat they rode in capsized off the waters of Toledo City at 2:00 a.m yesterday.
The sinking came a day after a pumpboat carrying Red Cross personnel and relief goods nearly sank after it left Ronda town, Cebu.
The Mactan office of the state weather bureau Pag-asa (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administraton) said heavy winds and slight to moderate rains will last at least until the middle of this week.
Pag-asa Mactan weather analyst Boy Artiaga said the low pressure area is causing slight to moderate rains with three to five millimeters volume of rainfall.
He said they recorded 3.9 mm of rainfall in Cebu yesterday.
He said the rains will continue until tomorrow while the heavy northeastern wind that causes rough coastal waters would end this week.
Big waves
In Toledo City, fishermen rescued four persons after their pumpboat sank some distance away from the shore.
The pumpboat named Mary Sunshine left Toledo City port at 1:30 a.m.
The vessel’s owner, Carmelita Cristuta, told the Coast Guard detachment in Toledo City that the boat was capsized by big waves 30 minutes after.
The pumpboat was captained by 45-year-old Mario Montemayor, a native of Barili town in Cebu.
A fisherman named Marlon Fuentes rescued the pumpboat’s crew who were scheduled to deliver newspapers in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
Aside from Montemayor, the others rescued were 46-year-old engineer Edgardo Casilac and 24-year-old utility worker Marlon Mangos of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental and 28-year-old utility worker Lendon Carcusia of Toledo City.
In a phone interview, Cebu Coast Guard Commander Rolando Punzalan said the Mary Sunshine which weighed 2.9 gross tons was supposed to arrive in San Carlos City at 3:30 a.m yesterday.
Punzalan said the pumpboat owner didn’t secure a Coast Guard clearance before it departed the Toledo City port. Coast Guard investigation showed that the boat’s bow sustained a crack due to the big waves.
All four men abandoned the pumpboat and swam to the shores of barangay Bato, Toledo City clad in lifejackets. The 41-year-old Fuentes said he saw the four men in the waters when he was outside his house located near the seashore.
Relatively small
Fuentes said he immediately asked assistance from his men to help the four persons. Punzalan said two pumpboats towed the Mary Sunshine to shore at 7 a.m.
Punzalan told Cebu Daily News that at 18 feet long, the Mary Sunshine is “relatively small” and thus cannot withstand big waves.
Fuentes said the pumpboat was “totally damaged” and were unable to recover the newspapers.
Fuentes said they provided clothes and food to the four men, who left his house at 9 a.m. Punzalan said a maritime violation receipt will be issued to the owner of the Mary Sunshine.
Sanctions will also be imposed on the owner of the pumpboat that nearly sank at the Tañon Strait while on transit towards the earthquake-struck town of La Libertad, Negros Oriental last Saturday.
Huge waves battered the pumpboat destroying one of its outriggers.
Lt. Agapito Bibat, commander of the Coast Guard detachment of Dumaguete City said a maritime violation receipt was issued to pumpboat owner Romeo Alipan of barangay Larena, Guihulngan town, in Negros Oriental yesterday.
Bibat confirmed that Alipan’s pumpboat named “Agape” (not Agassi as earlier reported) operated without registration from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
Balance
The vessel was boarded by 88 people, some of whom are Red Cross personnel. It also carried relief goods donated by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. The pumpboat can reportedly accommodate 300 people.
Investigator Revilio Palarplar, Coast Guard detachment commander of Guihulngan town, said 10 containers of mineral water were dumped by passengers to the sea to keep the boat afloat after big waves hit the Agape’s outrigger.
Pumpboat Agape left Ronda town port at 1 p.m. and was supposed to arrive in La Libertad located 11 nautical miles away at 1:45 p.m.
The pumpboat was towed to La Libertad port by another pump boat followed by three helicopters from the Central Command. It reached the town at 4:05 p.m.
One of the passengers, 40-year-old James Kee, told Cebu Daily News that he was headed to La Libertad to deliver relief goods to his parents who were affected by last Monday’s 6.9 earthquake.
Kee, an administration officer in a local radio station, said the pumpboat crew told them not to panic and to stay in the center to maintain the vessel’s balance.
He said they were told to contact friends and acquaintances who can rescue them.
Second life
Kee said he immediately called their radio station and other friends.
“Murag second life jud to nako. Daghan nanugat namo pag-abot namo sa barangay Cantupa.” (It was like a second life for me. Many people waited for us when we reached barangay Cantupa),” Kee said.
Another passenger, a social worker named Ma. Lagrimas Zapatalo, said there were no Coast Guard personnel who prohibited the pumpboats from traversing the rough coastal waters.
She said she and two other workers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) thought they would never reach their destination.
“My other companions are already crying in the boat,” she said.
Despite this, Zapatalo said they will stay in Negros Oriental until Wednesday for the DSWD relief operations.
“This is our job. We do what we have to do,” she said. /Rhea Ruth V. Rosell and Candeze R. Mongaya