Ferry death toll hits 30; skipper's kin among dead

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The captain of the motorized passenger banca that sank off the coast of Aparri, Cagayan Sunday evening survived the sea accident but he may never be able to withstand the pangs of his conscience as his sister and a young niece were among the 30 fatalities of the ill-fated boat.

The boat captain identified as Albert Tan is among the 45 survivors listed by the Cagayan Valley police, according to Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian.

Twenty-four more passengers are missing, Damian added.

Tan’s sister, Aimee Arellano, who happens to be the owner of the capsized ferry boat M/B Mae Jan, and her daughter, Abena, were not as fortunate as the other passengers, some of whom were able to withstand the strong current and reach the shore alive.

The Philippine Coast Guard said that while Tan may have been able to survive the mishap, he may not be able to escape liability for the death of the passengers, especially since his sister, the boat’s owner, who should have been among those possibly held responsible, is among the casualties.

PCG commandant Vice Admiral Wildredo Tamayo said Tan is currently in the custody of his brother, a town councilor.

Damian earlier said in a text message that one passenger of the capsized ferry was recovered yesterday hours after four more from the same boat were fished out in Abulug and Ballesteros shores.

Two more bodies were recovered late in the afternoon.

Charges vs Tan

Authorities are now contemplating on filing appropriate charges against Tan amid reports that the boat was overloaded when it left Calayan town in Cagayan for Aparri port around 8 a.m. Sunday.

At least 10 of the fatalities were relatives of Calayan Mayor Joseph Llopis, who blamed the strong current and huge waves as the major reason for the boat’s sinking off Barangay Linao, Aparri.

Among his relatives who were declared dead were Leonardo Llopis, Inocencia Llopis, Bella Llopis and Eva Llopis.

The mayor’s father, Francisco, was among those fortunate to have survived the tragedy.

The others who perished were a one-year-old baby and the mother, Ria Cangas, Calayan councilors Winifredo Agarpao and Vincent Tan, Angel Suarez, Cristine Cangas, Ofelia Balmes, Paz Escalante, Asela Tamboa, Ralane Allado and Marilou Menor.

Their bodies were recovered along the shores of Ballesteros, Abulug and Aparri towns.

Those who are still missing include another one-year-old baby boy and his mother, Raica Alla, Elijah Llopis, Ivonne Ydel, Luzviminda Visario, Remedios Patica, Letty Ubasa, Adelyn Tan, Ursula Duerme, James Duerme, Greg Llopis, Remy Mayor and Jason Misador.

Most, if not all of the passengers, including the crew, were from Calayan town and were bound for Aparri and Tuguegarao City, the country’s northernmost mainland Cagayan province’s capital, to buy some provisions for the traditional Noche Buena.

“Surely, this coming Christmas would not be as joyous as before with what happened to us. But no one wanted the incident to happen,” said Llopis, who disputed claims that the boat, one of the few ferries plying the Calayan-Aparri route, was overloaded.

Senior Superintendent Moro Lazo of the Cagayan police said search and rescue efforts have been intensified in the hope that there are still survivors from the sunken ferry boat amid the inclement weather.

“We cannot just give up the chance that there are those still alive, since we had experiences in the past when survivors appear even months after the incident. We will thus continue in our rescue efforts in the area as needed,” he said.

Conflicting numbers

As of press time, authorities could not yet determine the exact number of passengers aboard the sunken ferry.

Some reports indicated that 107 were on board while police estimated it to be 99, although the passenger list obtained by them indicated only 96 passengers.

Based on police accounts, 99 passengers including the crew were on board the ill-fated ferry, a clear case of overloading since Coast Guard authorities said the boat only had a maximum capacity of 50.

Senior Superintendent Moro Lazo, Cagayan police director, said that search and rescue efforts have been intensified in the hope that there are still survivors from the sunken ferry amid the cold weather and rough seas.

Personnel from the Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) based in Poro Point, La Union have also joined the search and rescue operations.

Lieutenant Dominic Binauro, NFNL information officer, told The STAR that the Navy’s disaster response team is currently scouring Calayan Island to search for missing passengers.

P1-M initial assistance

The Cagayan provincial government is set to release P1 million as initial assistance for victims of the sea tragedy, the worst to hit Northern Luzon in recent years.

Director Ronald Flores, executive officer of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) yesterday said the safety of the passengers of M/B Mae Jan was basically left to the owner of the sunken sea craft.

This is due to the absence of Coast Guard personnel in the island town to enforce sea safety regulations.

“The ferry was overloaded,” Flores said pointing out the motorboat was ferrying a lot more than its allowed passenger-capacity.

Tamayo also said that apart from the initial information that Mae Jan was carrying excess passengers, he is also not discounting the possibility that the latest marine incident happened because of the bad weather that prevailed in the area.

Mode of the treacherous sea travel to the mainland and vice versa is only via the wooden-hulled twin-engine passenger boats locally known as lampitaw.

Tamayo also recommended to the concerned agencies to study the routes given to wooden-hulled boats.

Last Sunday’s sea tragedy, the worst in recent years in this country’s northern seas, came almost three weeks after a cargo vessel towing a barge loaded with construction materials capsized off the Balintang channel near the island province of Batanes. – With Jun Elias, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan