ILOILO City – Five fishermen whose boat capsized in the waters of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras have been rescued.
But they had been floating in the sea for over an hour before Philippine Coast Guard officers – luckily – found them, an agency official said.
The following fishermen from Tigbauan, Iloilo left their town on Dec. 18 to go fishing:
* Rodolfo Pobresa (boat captain)
* Jeffmark Garganchil
* Danilo Gencila
* Gerald Nonescan
* RJ Ramos
All residents of Barangay Barroc, Tigbauan, they were rescued by the coastguards in the morning of Dec. 19.
They were already on their way back to Tigbauan at around 5 a.m. when they encountered strong waves, said Coast Guard spokesman Ramil Palabrica.
“Their engine may have been damaged because they were no longer able to maneuver the boat,” Palabrica said. “Luckily, one of our (Coast Guard) boats passed by the area where the fishing boat capsized.”
“They (fishermen) were rescued after more than an hour of floating in the water,” the Coast Guard official said.
Coastguards brought the rescued fishermen home.
“We advise fishermen to be careful when setting out to sea,” said Palabrica./PN
