‘Kabayan’ toll: bodies of 2 Luzon fishermen recovered

MANILA, Philippines—Police search-and-rescue teams recovered the bodies of two fishermen in separate waterways in Central Luzon on Sunday, a day after they were reported missing in Hagonoy, Bulacan.

Undersecretary Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said the body of Liberato Yumul, 40, was fished out near the fish cages in Manila Bay off Corregidor Island in Bataan about Sunday noon.

At about the same time, Ramos said the cadaver of Jason Reyes, 30, was recovered along Pampanga River in Hagonoy.

“They were the first and, so far, the only casualties of tropical storm ‘Kabayan,'” Ramos told the Philippine Daily Inquirer over the phone.

He said Yumul and Reyes were among the eight fishermen who were reported missing after their fishing boat capsized in a swollen fish pond near the Pampanga River around 3 p.m. Saturday.

According to the NDRRMC chief, the victims’ companions were immediately rescued by fellow fishermen.

“That fish pond is very near Pampanga River, which leads to Manila Bay,” Ramos said.

Aside from the two drowning cases, Ramos said there were no other reported fatalities left by Kabayan which, he said, was unlikely to make a landfall.