PCG to summon boat driver for deserting 2 divers off Apo Island

CEBU CITY—The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will the driver of a pump boat for leaving behind two foreigners who were diving in the waters off Apo Island in Negros Occidental on Monday.

The PCG will also summon the boat operator, Harold Biglete, though he wasn’t with the divers at the time of the incident.

Petty Officer 1st Class Rosiendo Ricamara of PCG in Negros Oriental said Joel Anggana would be asked to explain why he didn’t wait for Matthew Lafrance and Sway Rawla to resurface.

Latrance, 40, and a Canadian diving instructor; and Rawla, 31, and an American advance diver, had checked in to a resort in the capital city of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental.

They tapped the services of Anggana, boat driver, to bring them to the waters near Apo Island for a diving session on Monday afternoon.

Before they went under, the two gave explicit instructions to Anggana to wait for them on the spot where they dropped them off since they would only be gone for a couple of hours.

When the two resurfaced, they were surprised to see the boat gone.

The two floated on the waters for hours, waiting for help to arrive.

At 10:26 p.m., the foreigners saw a cargo vessel and immediately blew their whistle.

Ricarte Hibalay, captain of MV Fortune Gold of Cebu-based Fortune Sea Carrier, heard the distress call and instructed his crew members to pull up the two on board.

The vessel docked at the port in Dumaguete to drop Lafrance and Rawla past midnight on Tuesday. The two returned to their hotel.  /atm