‘2 boats passed by, but did not help’

By Allison Lopez, Madonna VirolaPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 01:33:00 05/25/2009Filed Under: Most Read
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The Commando 6, a 42-seater outrigger boat, floats off the coast of Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro after it capsized on Saturday. Survivors said the boat was overloaded. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines—The father, Ramon Eugenio, wept inconsolably in the small church room next to where the two small coffins lay containing the young bodies of his 3-year-old son Franco and his 2-year-old nephew Anton.

Their first family outing, on what turned out to be an overloaded boat that was to take them to Tamaraw Beach in Oriental Mindoro, had turned into a grim tragedy that saw the boat overwhelmed by waves.

“He was so good, he was so [much] fun, he was so healthy. He would have turned out to be a fine young man,” Ramon cried, speaking of Franco, who was among the 12 killed in a boat mishap off Batangas on Saturday.

What was equally rending to Ramon and his wife Monica who survived the accident was that as the boat was going down, two other vessels passed by—and did not help. The vessels’ passengers, instead, just took pictures of the sinking outrigger motorboat carrying Ramon, his family and relatives, and scores of other people.

“I don’t know if they were afraid of being overloaded,” Ramon told the Philippine Daily Inquirer during the wake at a church in Makati City. “I was hoping they would give us help by throwing life vests but they took pictures, they took videos.”

First family picnic

As the outrigger boat began to sink, Ramon said he wondered “if it’s going to be every man for himself.”

The sinking was the latest maritime disaster to occur in the archipelago of more than 7,000 islands where ferries are among the most popular modes of transport.

At the church, Ramon appeared visibly in shock. Besides Franco and Anton, Ramon’s mother Daisy and househelp Teresa dela China also perished.It was the first family outing for the Eugenios, and they were 13 in the group going to Mindoro. They never got there and their summer getaway was now a bitter memory.

Strong currents

Monica said: “Before we got on, I asked the barker, because we heard the waters were choppy. He said it was [calm] and that the boat can carry 130 people. When I saw the boat, I didn’t think it could carry that many.”

“At first, we were only few and then they started filling it. I was on the left side … I counted about 45 people on the right side. So there were more or less 90 people on board,” Monica said, adding she was told the trip would only take 45 minutes.

Coast Guard officials said the 12-ton, 21-meter outrigger boat could carry only 42 passengers and five crew.

Monica said that aside from the strong currents, she sensed something else was amiss when an hour later, the boatman said it would take another 30 minutes to reach their destination.

‘Like Ozone’

Minutes later, the boat started to tilt to its right side.

The passengers on the left side, including Monica, Franco and Anton, began sliding and the boat overturned.

Earlier, tarpaulin covers had been pulled down on each side to protect the passengers from splashes of water.

Recalling the scene, Ramon said: “It was like in Ozone where people were trapped and they couldn’t escape.” He was referring to the disco fire in Quezon City on March 18, 1996, where at least 160 people were trapped to death.

“We couldn’t save them. We barely had time to save ourselves,” said Ramon, who was told later that a broken bamboo “katig” (outrigger) on the right side had caused the boat to swing sideways.

“I asked everyone if they had a knife so we could cut the cords and the tarpaulin. They had none … I was able to get my nephew out but I couldn’t find my son,” Monica said.

Useless life vests

Ramon couldn’t help but cry at the thought that when help finally came from three other boats, the boatmen attended to the passengers’ possessions first.

“They were getting the bags first. We said, ‘Are the bags more important than people?’” he said.
The life vests on the top shelves of the ill-starred boat were also of no use as the boatmen did not make the passengers wear them before leaving port.

“If the seas were unusually rough, they should have advised us to put the gear on. The boat was almost flying,” Ramon said.

“I’m trying to make sense out of all this. It’s not for me to question God’s plan. But what about what man can do? Puro papogi lang sila (All people are thinking of is their image) … We just wanted to have a good time … These were innocent kids who had so much more to live for,” Ramon said.

Aiza’s grief

Aiza Pablico, on the other hand, only wanted to treat her parents to a weekend of fun and relaxation in the tourist-famous White Beach in Puerto Galera.

Her mother Gregoria would be celebrating her birthday on Monday and she also wanted her father, Albino, a stroke survivor, to relax with them.Aiza’s parents were among those killed when the boat capsized in Pulo Island off Batangas City.

Aiza survived.

Tears for the dead

Aiza’s story was told by Tadeo Raymundo, manager of St. Peter Life Plan and Chapels in Calapan City, who embalmed the cadavers of Aiza’s parents and five other victims.

“How could I hold back my tears in sympathy for Aiza and others when they only wanted to relax but another thing happened,” Raymundo said.

He said some of the casualties were staff members of Globe Telecom who were also bound for White Beach for a teambuilding seminar.

Raymundo said among the bodies embalmed were those of a Japanese national and two other Filipinos.

The casualties on his list were Albino Pablico, 55, and Gregoria Pablico, 58, from Sta. Cruz, Manila; Joena Perez, 25, of Batangas City; Desiree Teodoro, 20, of Taytay in Rizal; Melanie Acedo, 30, and daughter Beatrice, 3, of Sta. Mesa, Manila; Nina (not Mina as earlier reported) and Ricci Cads of Binangonan, Rizal.

Raymundo said he was told by Cads’ father Oscar that Nina worked for a call center and was bound for Puerto Galera for a teambuilding seminar.

“She didn’t know how to swim,” Oscar said.

49 survivors

As of 3 p.m. Sunday, Supt. Roger James S. Brillantes, Puerto Galera chief of police, said there were 49 survivors, while five boat crewmen, including the boat captain, were missing.

Some survivors told police that the boat was sailing fast until it was hit by the waves. With reports from Marrah Lesaba and Maricar P. Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon

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