BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A 35-year-old man drowned after jumping off a roll-on/roll-off vessel yesterday afternoon at BREDCO Port.
Joel Calubia was reported to be a resident of San Dionisio, Iloilo.
On social media, Sanie Diodio Ong, one of the witnesses to the incident, at around 1:33 p.m. their vessel departed Bacolod City bound for Dumangas Port in Iloilo.
Ong said he heard loud banging outside and when he got out, he saw the victim clinging.
At first he thought that the victim was one of the crew.
As the vessel tried to return to Bacolod City, Ong said some of the crew members tried to calm the troubled victim, but the victim jumped into the sea.
In the video, one of the crew members threw a life ring into the victim, but he disappeared in the waves.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) BREDCO sub-station led Chief Petty Officer Louie Campaner immediately initiated a search and rescue operation and after an hour the victim’s remains were recovered./PN
