LEGAZPI CITY—Albay Gov. Joey Salceda on Friday rescinded the province’s “zero casualty” declaration following the recovery of the remains of five fishermen from Tabaco City who went on a fishing expedition on Dec. 6 but were still at sea and died when Typhoon “Nona” slammed into Bicol region on Monday.
The bodies of the five missing fishermen were found floating in the water off Sorsogon between Thursday and Friday while their sixth companion and the lone survivor, Robert Busito, 21, was rescued near the shore of the town of Barcelona, Sorsogon on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Salceda said the provincial government was deeply saddened by their deaths and condoled with their families.
“We are hereby taking back our declaration of zero casualty to unequivocally speak our sadness in losing lives to Typhoon Nona and uphold the sacredness of every life in our community,” Salceda said.
He said the incident should also prompt a closer look at lessons learned and new protocols “so we can avoid such deaths in the future.”
“No excuses but new lessons and greater commitment to zero casualty,” Salceda said.
He added: “Our duty is to take care of our people even under the most difficult circumstances. And to do this, we are guided by zero-casualty goal.”
Salceda said the zero-casualty goal “is not just a statistic,” but “refers to the body of measures we must take to ensure that no one, even the most vulnerable, will not fall by the wayside due to a disaster.”
On Thursday, the bodies of Edwin Bagarinao, 29, Escolastico Bolima, 69, and Efren Bien, 22, were recovered floating in sea off Bulusan town in Sorsogon; while that of Eddie Boy Bredes, 26, was recovered in Barcelona town.
Yesterday, the body of Edgardo Bolda was also found in the water off Barcelona town, said Supt. Lianne Van de Velde, Tabaco City police chief.
Busito told authorities there were six of them who left San Miguel Island in Tabaco City last Dec. 6 and headed for the fishing ground off the eastern part of the island-province of Catanduanes.
They were at the sea for a week and last Monday, while somewhere in the water off Magallanes, Sorsogon, they decided to head home because of the approaching typhoon. However, they were struck by big waves that sank their fishing boat.
Busito said he tied an empty gallon around his body to float until he reached the coastal area of Barcelona.