Man jumps off boat, goes missing

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Search-and-rescue operations for a missing man reported to have jumped overboard a motor banca en route to Siquijor island from the port of Dumaguete City continued yesterday after efforts to locate him Thursday proved futile.

Coast Guard-Dumaguete deputy station commander Alberto Urciada gave the assurance that search operations will continue, after these were called off late Thursday, for the missing person, identified as Khenney Villar, a 27-year-old married man of Cotabato City.

Early investigation showed Villar was going to Siquijor to visit his wife and two children when he allegedly jumped into the sea from the M/B Jaziel shortly after it left the Dumaguete port around 5:45 a.m. Villar’s companion, Arjay Ysec, 21, of Tambisan in Siquijor, had reportedly notified the boat crew that the former was missing.

Urciada said they received a text message from the boat captain, Michael Lusdoc, of a man overboard, somewhere around three nautical miles from the city port. Further investigation stated that Villar had allegedly fell off with the boat’s anchor and mooring line in waters estimated to be about 300 meters deep, he said.

The Coast Guard immediately deployed its search-and-rescue team on board its sea craft and also asked for assistance from the Rescue 348 of the Dumaguete City government and from the GL Lines, owner of the M/B Jaziel. The GL Lines also deployed its Delta 3 fast craft to help in the initial search-and-rescue operations but returned later to the Dumaguete port.

Alexander Lagrimas, father-in-law of Villar from San Juan town in Siquijor, told reporters Thursday that while they were not blaming anyone, they are hoping that Villar’s body, if ever he died at sea, would be recovered.

Lagrimas, upon learning of the incident, immediately left the island with some companions on board a motorboat to help in the search-and-rescue operations. He lamented, though, that upon nearing the Dumaguete port, they did not see any indication of an ongoing rescue operations.

He expressed his disappointment noting that even the M/B Jaziel crew did not exert extra effort to locate Villar and had proceeded to Siquijor , adding that the search-and-rescue operations for his son-in-law should have lasted longer.

Villar worked as a quartermaster on an interisland vessel plying the San Carlos (Negros Occidental)–Toledo (Cebu) route, and Lagrimas admitted that he was not aware of any serious problems his son-in-law was facing. Villar’s wife and two children, one of them about two months old, were at the Siquijor port to meet him Thursday morning, Lagrimas added.

Urciada explained that Coast Guard rescuers had temporarily stopped the operations around 9 a.m. Thursday for refueling of their sea craft and to have breakfast. He however assured the family the search will continue with the personnel scouring the coastal areas south of Dumaguete.

He believed that if Villar was separated from the boat’s anchor and died in the waters, his body would eventually rise to the surface. He asked the help of the police and the public to watch out for a floating body along the coastal areas of Negros Oriental.

The Coast Guard will also investigate possible liabilities of the M/B Jaziel and its crew, Urciada said, adding that Villar could have fallen overboard by accident. He said the boat captain was advised to file a marine protest with the Maritime Industry Authority about the incident. (FREEMAN)