MANILA, Philippines - After 24 days of waiting, the 14 passengers of the sunken M/V Catalyn B are finally going home to Lubang Island in Mindoro Occidental, but instead of giving warm welcome to their family members they would be arriving there as corpses.
First Lieutenant Jose Dinglasan, Philippine Navy Administrator and Logistics Branch chief Naval Public Affairs Office, said that one of their vessels would be transporting 14 of the 25 bodies that have been recovered from the wooden-hulled 79 gross ton vessel.
Aside from the fatalities would also be 70 relatives aboard, many of them are natives of Lubang Island and had hoped to spend the Christmas holiday with their families.
They would be loaded on board the BRP Iloilo with Captain Narciso Vingson as the commanding officer. The Navy ship was docked at Gate 2 of the South Harbor.
“The loading time is at 8 p.m. of Jan. 16, while the time of departure is at 10 p.m. They would have to travel eight hours at sea to reach their destination,” said Dinglasan.
It can be recalled that the M/V Catalyn B, which is owned and operated by the San Nicholas Shipping Lines, sailed from Pier 2 at around 1:30 a.m. of Dec. 24 and was on its way to Tilik, Lubang Island, Mindoro. It was reportedly carrying 73 passengers and crew.
But when they reached 2.8 nautical miles off Limbones Island in Cavite, they collided with a fishing boat, F/B Anatalia, that caused the wooden passenger vessel to sink.
In a related development, yesterday the Philippine Coast Guard buried one of its seasoned divers Petty Officer 3 Arman Bonifacio at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio.
The dives the PCG-Special Operations Group undertook were “risky” attempts to recover the bodies. Due to lack of training and lack of equipment, they could only dive as low as 150 feet. The wreck was at 221 feet.
Bonifacio was conferred with the highest PCG award, the Distinguished Coast Guard Cross for his acts of heroism. He was also given a posthumous promotion and burial honors.
The 42-year-old seasoned diver died during one of the searches and retrieval operations.
The PCG also promised to give a scholarship grant to Bonifacio’s 11-year-old son, Alvin Bernie.
Apart from the M/V Catalyn B, he also took part in other rescue operations such as during the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars, burning of the M/V SuperFerry 14, and in typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.