Don’t end search yet, kin asks Coast Guard

Despite the Coast Guard’s announcement, some families of the missing passengers of the ill-fated MV St. Thomas Aquinas still want retrieval operations to continue.

“How about families like us who are still hoping and waiting that we could still find them? They should not stop,” said Veronica Palasan whose father-in-law Rudy Palasan remains missing.

The Coast Guard listed 22 missing passengers from the sunken ship which collided with the Sulpicio Express Siete some distance off Lauis Ledge in Talisay City last Aug. 16.

Palasan’s 53-year-old father-in-law came from Surigao City and was headed to Manila after being hired as a painter by a company.

“We cannot sleep and our family is not at peace because his body has not yet been found,” she said.

She said the family does not plan to sue the shipping companies in the tragedy.

“The important thing is that we find the body of our father whether he is dead or alive,” Palasan said.

Another relative, Albert Gonzaga, is still awaiting word about his 35-year-old sister Alma Pomoy.

“I hope they don’t stop the operation. They should take pity on the families who are still hoping to find their loved ones,” he said in Tagalog.

Alma came from Siargao City and was headed to Manila with three relatives when the tragedy occurred.

Only a relative’s eight-month-old baby girl survived the sinking.

Coast Guard Cebu station commander Weniel Azcuna said yesterday’s retrieval operation recovered one male passenger from the vessel’s Deck A.

“We will inform the families of the recovery of the remains as soon as possible,” he said.

Not all family members are ready to forgive. Cecille Castro said the families should unite to file charges against those responsible for the collision.

“There must be a coordinator among the relatives of the victims in order for us to form a group for those who want to file a case. We are all victims here. Some of us lost loved ones in this sea tragedy,” she said.

The remains of Castro’s 50-year-old mother Carmela, a breast cancer survivor, was fished off the waters by technical divers last Friday morning.

She was identified from the mastectomy scars on her body.

Her mother’s remains will be brought to Davao City.