Typhoon strands over 6,000 people in various ports

Passengers bound for Iloilo and Bacolod were stranded at 2GO Travel, North Harbor, Manila on Tuesday, as the Coast Guard suspended boat trips in several areas including Visayas and Mindanao due to Typhoon “Pablo”. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—More than 6,030 passengers on 131 interisland vessels have been  stranded in at least 32 ports, including Manila and cities in the Visayas and Mindanao, because of the passage of Typhoon Pablo, the Philippine Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The Coast Guard listed the ports with stranded passengers as the following: Manila’s north and south harbors, 70; Cebu City, 229; Dumaguete City, 41; Tagbilaran City, 144; Catbalogan, Samar, 92; Maasin City, Southern Leyte, 477; Iloilo City, 776; Bacolod City, 213; Caticlan, Aklan, 36; Roxas City, 2; San Jose de Buenavista, 6; Zamboanga City, 784; Jolo, 663; Surigao City, 224; Butuan City, 60; Iligan City, 255; Ozamiz City, 69; Dapitan City, 170; Masbate, 8; Batangas City, 500; Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro, 22; and Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, 887; and Coron, Cuyo and El Nido, all in Palawan, 83, 60 and 9, respectively.

The stranded ships include 49 in Cebu; 14 in Dumaguete City; 8 in Tagbilaran City; 13 in Bacolod City; 5 in Cagayan de Oro; and three in Manila, among others.

Nearly 60 motor bancas were also reported stranded in various ports in northern Mindanao.

At least 35 vessels have taken shelter in PCG-designated areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

All Coast Guard units nationwide are “still on heightened alert” because of the weather disturbance, said Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson.