2-year-old girl killed, 18 others hospitalized

A two-year-old girl drowned while at least 18 others, mostly children aged 16 and below, were hospitalized after a passenger banca capsized in Manila Bay due to powerful waves yesterday.

The body of Jhelyn Villafuerte, of 1235 Anakbayan St., Paco, Manila, was recovered after an hour, or at about 10 a.m. Waves had catapulted her from the boat she was riding in, together with her mother and two brothers, into the polluted waters, far from other passengers who either swam to safety or were rescued.

"When she was tossed away, she immediately sank below the surface. Her brother later recovered her body," said Western Police District Homicide investigator Detective Athos de Quiros.

Jhelyn’s brother, 14-year-old Enrico, with his mother Eliza, 34, and brother Jonathan, 10, were among the people who boarded the banca for a sight-seeing trip.

The tour boats sail from docks behind the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, about two kilometers away from the scene of the accident.

De Quiros, however, could not give the size of the boat and is still determining the name of its operators and whether they can be held liable for the accident.

Initial police investigation showed that the boat had just reached the area facing Grand Boulevard Hotel on Roxas Boulevard in Malate, Manila about 9 a.m., when a "sudden change in tide level" sent big the waves sweeping the boat to the rocks of the breakwater where it crashed.

According to the Malate police, they have recorded a total of 18 injuries — 15 treated at the Ospital ng Maynila and three (including Jhelyn) at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

Reports show that those treated were Jhelyn’s mother, her brothers Enrico and Jonathan, 10, Angelos Tosa, 1, John Mark Tosa, 5, Analisa Mendoza, 3, Maryjane Mendoza, 25, Johnny Bacungan, 1, Jennilyn Bacungan, 15, Benjie Santos, 5, Sheila May Salita, 8, Irish Faith Bariga, 9, Mary Ann Maupay, 14, Richelle Murillo, 16, Leslie Biloy, 16, Gina Bantog, 35, Liza Mendoza, 24, and Ernest Greg Mendoza, 3.

The investigator said all those in his list are out of danger except the three-year-old Mendoza, who reportedly continued to vomit at the PGH.

The Philippine Coast Guard and swimmers helped rescue the victims but failed to save Jhelyn.