Remains of GenSan fisher repatriated

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—The remains of a Filipino fisherman, who died allegedly when their vessel was fired upon by Indonesian authorities last May 5, returned to his home here in a casket.

The victim was identified as Arnold Abellar, 43, a resident of Fatima village here.

Abellar’s younger brother, Anthony, told reporters that the victim was the skipper of a fishing boat owned by Jake Lo of the MGTR Fishing here.

The Abellar brothers were among the 22 fishermen—13 from nearby Sarangani Province and 9 from this city—who sailed off to the high seas on April 21 to catch tuna.

Anthony said they had been operating for about two weeks in the high seas, particularly in the disputed boundary of the Philippines and Indonesia, when strong waves sent them drifting toward Indonesian the shoreline.

The Indonesian police, he claimed, tried to flag them down on May 5 but they did not stop because they could not determine whether the men were Indonesian police or not.

According to him, the Indonesian police fired shots at their boat and hit his elder brother in the back.

“We only learned that they were Indonesian police after they had intercepted us. They were not in uniform and they were riding in a rubber boat,” Anthony said in the local dialect.

Anthony said his brother was not immediately given appropriate medical attention as he was brought to a rural clinic where there was no available doctor to extract the bullet from his body.

He said his brother apparently died from loss of blood and infection a day after.

Anthony said that apart from not being given medical attention, many of his colleagues suffered physical abuse at the hands of their captors.

He said they became lucky when he met a friend, an officer of the Indonesian navy, who purchased a mobile phone for him. He used the mobile phone to contact the management of MGTR Fishing to inform them that they were captured by the Indonesian authorities and that his brother was dead.

Anthony disclosed that they were advised by the MGRTR management to sell their catch and use the proceeds to travel back home.

Anthony and a fellow fisherman managed to return home bringing the cadaver of his brother. They arrived here Friday.

The remaining fishers, he said, are still languishing in an Indonesian jail.

This city, Sarangani Province and nearby areas have been home to thousands of illegal Indonesian nationals. However, when these illegal aliens are captured, they are provided with an interpreter and even financial assistance by the local social welfare offices on their trip back to Indonesia.