Negros boat sinks off Iloilo coast: 4 dead, 5 missing

Photo courtesy of Zarraga News Live
Photo courtesy of Zarraga News Live

BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA

BACOLOD City – A fishing boat from Cadiz City, Negros Occidental sank off the coast of Iloilo province. Four people died while five others remained missing.

The identified casualties were Rommel Engle of Cadiz City and Norberto Parlotzo of Bantayan Island in Cebu.

The two others were yet to be identified but possibly part of the seven crews authorities were searching Sunday afternoon: Boat Captain Frankie Chavez of Toboso, Negros Occidental; Renante Forsuelo, Victor Calvo, Manuel Auditor, and Julian Dungog from Cadiz City; Herminio Ronam of Estancia, Iloilo; and Julit Salvo of Don Salvador Benedicto in Negros Occidental.

The men were onboard Tristar Fishing Corp.’s F/V St. Peter the Fisherman II, fishing off between Gigantes Island, Iloilo and Tanguingui Island, Cebu, when confronted by strong winds and big waves early morning on Sept. 24.   

The vessel later listed to port (left side), and ultimately capsized.

Twenty-two crewmen managed to slide out of the vessel and were rescued, according to Captain Ludovico Librilla, Coast Guard Western Visayas District (CGWVD) deputy commander and Coast Guard Station-Negros Occidental commander.

The survivors were brought back to Cadiz City.

Librilla immediately deployed the Coast Guard ship BRP Nueva Vizcaya to the area for a search and rescue operation. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) also augmented their air assets.

Parlotzo and Engle’s remains were recovered on Saturday evening.
Yesterday, a dive team of the PCG’s Special Operations Unit led by CGWVD Chief of Staff, Commander Jansen Benjamin, conducted a search of the wreck.

The wreck lies around 24 fathoms or 44 meters deep based on the area’s sea charts.

A team from the PCG central office will also come to Negros Occidental to interview survivors and probe the sea mishap./PN

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