Boat from Camotes capsizes; ‘Basyang’ leaves 5 people missing

CEBU, Philippines - A Korean, a Filipino tour guide and three boat crewmembers went missing after their boat capsized due to typhoon Basyang after they left the Camotes Islands for mainland Cebu last Friday night.

Three Koreans from the same boat were rescued by local fishermen in Danao City. They were Kion No Ga, 55; his wife Kyuogae Lee, 52; and their son In Geol Ga, 27.

Cebu Coast Guard Commander Rodolfo Villajuan said that the search and rescue operation is still ongoing for No Geol Ga, 25; Julius Perillia, 30; and three crewmembers in the waters between Camotes and Danao City.

In an interview with TV5 Cebu, Kion No Ga said that they rented the boat and asked to be ferried to Cebu to catch their flight, but their boat capsized in the middle of the sea.

Strong waves brought by Basyang also caused another motorized banca to capsize off the Camotes Islands last Friday evening. Fortunately, the Ave Maria 5 was not carrying passengers as all trips were cancelled since signal number 2 was hoisted in Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas.

Philippine Coast Guard Central Visayas chief Commodore William Melad said the vessel, which usually plies the Poro, Camotes to Cebu City route, left Poro on its way to the neighboring town of San Francisco at 9 p.m. to transfer berth.

An hour later, the small vessel carrying nine crew members was reportedly battered by rough seas.

"One was earlier reported missing but was later recovered this morning. Nine survived. Motorbanca transferred berth from port of Poro San Francisco roughly 9 p.m. of January 31 when battered by rough seas causing it to capsize," Melad said.

Another fishing boat, the San Pedro, was towing the fishing boat Mercydelle when it ran aground the vicinity of Lauis Ledge, around 1 a.m. yesterday.

PCG recorded 103 stranded passengers from Cebu and another 659 from Dumaguete City as of noon yesterday. But also by noon all voyages had resumed after PAGASA lifted storm signal warning off the region.

As early as 7 a.m. yesterday, the state weather agency downgraded the public storm signal from 2 to number 1. The next weather bulletin, at 11 a.m., already removed Cebu and Central Visayas from the threatened areas, causing the resumption of sea trips to and from Cebu.

Fire in the rain

Even as Typhoon Basyang unleashed her fury in Cebu, firefighters scrambled to put out a fire that hit a house in Sitio Panchang, Barangay Inayawan, in Cebu City.

SFO1 Christopher Orbiso said that the fire department received the alarm at 11:12 p.m. Friday night. It was raised to the first alarm and declared fire out around 11:31 p.m.

Nobody was reported injured and fire investigator FO3 Emiliano Daño is still investigating the cause of the fire in the house of Cresencia Chiu Soriano. The estimated damage has yet to be determined.

Past 1 p.m. yesterday, the Cebu City Fire Station responded to another fire alarm along Carlock Street, Barangay Sawang-Calero, in Cebu City. FO3 Ramon Molina said the alarm turned out to be a burning Visayan Electric Company meter post.

No major damage

The Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office reported no major damage to Cebu Province brought about by Basyang. However, they said a landslide was reported in Barangay Manipis, Talisay City, that damaged 15 houses, two of them severely.

In the City of Naga, information officer Garry Cabotaje said there was some damage to the city's milkfish industry after bangus breeders in the coastal village of Inoburan had to prematurely harvest young milkfish after Basyang destroyed their homemade fish cages Friday night.

Cabotaje said the growers had to sell their bangus at cheaper prices to recoup their losses. — /BRP (FREEMAN)