19 sailors saved after 4-day ordeal

Nineteen Filipino crewmen of a cargo ship which sank off Dasol, Pangasinan at the height of typhoon "Nanang" last week have been rescued by a passing ferry near the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

Four more Filipino fishermen were rescued yesterday in Lingayen Gulf by a Japanese oil tanker but a fifth was already dead when fished out of the water.

Nanang blew out of the country and headed toward Vietnam late Saturday, leaving 150 people dead and 177 missing and presumed dead in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Lt. Armand Balilo, Coast Guard spokesman, said the 19 seamen were aboard the 5,800-ton Ho-Feng en route to Hong Kong from Indonesia when big waves stirred by Nanang caused the vessel to sink off the town of Dasol last Thursday.

"They were found near Scarborough Shoal," he said. "The Coast Guard center received a report this morning that a passing ferry rescued the 19 Filipino crew who have been missing since Nov. 8."

On the other hand, Commander Rolando Dizon, Coast Guard district chief in Northern Luzon, said the Japanese oil tanker M/T Nichiyo informed them that its crew had rescued the four fishermen from a half-submerged boat in Lingayen Gulf.

A Coast Guard helicopter picked up the four survivors and the lone fatality from the Nichiyo and flew them to a hospital in the town of Agno in Pangasinan, he added.

In Camiguin, Gov. Pedro Romualdo said officials have not yet decided when to stop search operations after finding 107 bodies in the island following Nanang’s path of destruction.

"We will leave no stone unturned," he said. "I have already spoken with the relatives of the missing to make them understand that some may never be found under tons of debris."

Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, military Southern Command chief, said hopes have dimmed for the recovery of survivors as troops shifted their operation from search and rescue to search and recovery of more than 200 missing persons.

"Hopes are really getting dim because most of those who were recovered by our troops are mostly dead," he said. "But we hope against hope that there are still survivors."

Rescue workers have placed at 150 the number of bodies recovered but they are increasing by the hour as most of those reported missing have been confirmed dead, he added.

Chief government volcanologist Raymundo Punongbayan told The STAR yesterday "weak soil structure" caused the landslide that killed more than 100 people in Mahinog town in Camiguin at the height of Nanang’s fury.

"The edifice of Mt. Timpoong, the oldest of the volcanic centers in the island, was weak," he said.

Punongbayan said rain and water from a stream pushed down pyroclastic deposits on the mountainside to come rolling down.

"The resident volcanologist at the Catarman-Hibok-Hibok volcanic complex found out that 20 landslides occurred in Mahinog that night," he said.

Spanish queen to send help

Meanwhile, Spanish Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Arazazu Bañon said yesterday Queen Sophia of Spain will provide relief to Camiguin province, which was hardest hit by Nanang, through the Cooperacion Española, the Spanish government’s international aid agency.

"The Queen is very impressed by the sentiments of gratitude by the people of Camiguin which she felt was very rewarding," he said.

Bañon said Camiguin also receives assistance for integrated livelihood from the Spanish government through a program known as SAIL (Spanish Assistance for Integrated Livelihood).

"As of now, there is no final conclusion on the extent of the damage on the projects funded with the assistance of the Spanish government," he said.

Bañon said the Spanish government will continue its development projects on eco-tourism, health sanitation, and livelihood in Camiguin.

"We will continue with the development projects in Camiguin because it is even more necessary," he said. "There is no change in the Spanish government’s decision of giving assistance."

Bañon said Romualdo has been successful in getting additional funds for projects which are 60 to 70 percent funded by the Spanish government.

"(Romualdo) has been proven to be trustworthy," he said.

Spanish aid to Camiguin for the past nine years is embodied in a master plan of Cooperacion Española based on national and local economic priorities, he added.

Bañon said Cooperacion Española supports food security and sustainable enterprise developments, with an overall community-based strategy in 40 barangays in Camiguin. — Artemio Dumlao, Felix de los Santos, Roel Pareño, Pia Lee-Brago