Two fishermen from missing Pangasinan crew found dead

DAGUPAN CITY – Two Pangasinan fishermen, members of a crew that was reported missing last week, were found dead Saturday in the West Philippine Sea, a village official said Sunday.

The remains of Christopher Monje and Junjun Amor were recovered by a search team composed of fishermen 90 nautical miles west of Bolinao town at 11 a.m. on Saturday, said Charlito Maniago, barangay captain of Cato village in Infanta town

Maniago said the two were tied to a makeshift raft they may have made to keep afloat.

“The left hand of one of the [dead fishermen] was also tied to the right hand of the other so that they won’t be separated,” he said.

The two men sailed to the West Philippine Sea on Nov. 28 in a vessel containing 7 fishermen, not 8 as originally reported by the village government.

The group was last seen fishing in a payao 80 nautical miles west of Bolinao.

Still missing are the boat’s skipper, Pedro Amor, and his crew members Alfredo Bautista, Jomar Gamboa, Leonardo Nical and a man known as Gerry.

Maniago said the bodies of the dead fishermen were expected to arrive in Cato on Sunday.

The missing fishermen’s families were disappointed that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) did not help in the search, he said.

“We gave them the coordinates where the missing fishermen were last seen. But according to the teams I sent, they did not see a PCG ship in the area,” Maniago said.

On Friday, Commander Armand Balilo, PCG spokesman, said that the PCG had sent BRP Nueva Vizcaya and NCS 3001 to scour an area near the Scarborough Shoal (also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag) for the missing fishermen. JE/rga