Two survivors return home to Siquijor

SIQUIJOR, SIQUIJOR ,Philippines  — Two crew members of the Costa Concordia arrived home in this capital town last week after surviving the sinking of the 17-deck Italian cruise ship after it ran aground off the coast of Giglio in Italy last January 13, with 4,235 passengers and crew, 296 of the latter were Filipinos.

The two, Ailyn Grace Bado of Maria town in Siquijor, and Nikki Jumawan of Luyang, Siquijor, arrived in the Philippines on January 21 along with the third batch of 110 repatriated Filipino crew members of Costa Concordia.

Bado and Jumawan, like most of their fellow crew members, arrived home with nothing except clothes on their backs. All their possessions sank with the ship. Bado said she failed to save her money and belongings, and Jumawan lost her valuables worth US$5,000 at the time of the accident. “Life is still more important than any thing else,” said the two survivors.

Bado recounted her experience with the ill-fated vessel. “It was my first time to meet an accident on sea. I really felt scared seeing that everyone panicked. What immediately popped up on my mind during that fateful time was the movie “Titanic,” she said.

Jumawan narrated: “The moment the ship suddenly halted and the lights went out for almost 5 minutes, passengers panicked and wanted to disembark the wrecked ship immediately. We (the crew members) escorted passengers to the life boats in a hurry because in about 10 to15 minutes the starboard (right side of the ship) was already immersed. In the port (left side), passengers needed to pass the ladder in going down.”.

“We made sure most, if not all, of the passengers were safe because that was part of our job,” said Bado who was tasked in assisting the passengers to his assigned muster station where life boats and life rafts were waiting for them.

Bado recalled one fellow crew member, who she knew was married and has family back home. She offered her own lifejacket to him and used for her the lifejacket intended for babies instead. “He has a family who depended on him so he should be saved,” Bado said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario lauded the 296 Filipino crewmen for their courage and sincerity in assisting passengers who also commended the heroic efforts of the Filipinos in escorting them to safety.

The manning agency, Magsaysay Maritime Corporation that deployed majority of the 296 Filipinos, said in a statement that it is proud of the crew for their bravery.

Pinoy crew members had proven their worth as exemplary seafarers during fateful or tragic situations. “This is what we called ‘madiskarte;’ we are very proud to be one of the crew,” Bado and Jumawan said.

“We stayed in Tuscany, Italy for three days before we were transported to Hilton Hotel in Rome where we stayed until our departure back to the Philippines,” Bado said, adding that the bayanihan spirit was also strong among her countrymen. “Filipinos (in Italy) provided us food and clothing. When we arrived in Rome, a monsignor of the Vatican City personally blessed us,” she said.

The Philippine government also gave support to the survivors by letting us underwent physical and psychological tests after arrival here. Bado and Jumawan had theirs at Chung Hua Hospital in Cebu City.

The two wanted to have sufficient rest first in Siquijor before going back to work. Jumawan had worked on cruise ships for 10 years already.

Bado worked as waitress in Concordia thrice and for almost three months in her latest employment. Her first job was in Concordia in 2006. Other luxury liners she had worked with were the Costa Marina and Costa Romantica.

The two said, “working in an overseas vessel is really difficult and risky, like having half of their lives in danger,” but they admitted the income was good enough and worthy of their efforts.”

Bado’s father and brother are also currently working on oversea vessels, while another brother is now taking up a maritime course.

Another cruise ship to be christened on May is Costa Fashionosa. The company promised to the crew members that about 300 Filipino seafarers will be given priority for employment, Bado added.