3 bodies retrieved, 24 remain missing in Cavite sea mishap

Three bodies believed to be those of victims in the collision of a motor banca and a fishing boat off Cavite were recovered Thursday afternoon, the Philippine Coast Guard said. Lieutenant Commander Armand Balilo, Coast Guard spokesperson, said ocean tanker Emilio Jacinto found the bodies floating near the collision site. From the tanker, the bodies were transferred to the government tugboat MT Habagat (TB-271), which would bring the bodies back to land. Of the three fatalities, only one - a woman - was so far identified, but the Coast Guard has withheld her name from media pending notification of her family. "Mayroon tayong tatlo na natagpuang patay at ito ay kasalukuyang nasa tugboat Habagat. Yung dalawang hindi pa na-identify ay nakitang palutang-lutang malapit sa pinaglubugan ng barko," Balilo said in an interview on dzBB. DzBB’s report described the female victim as wearing a life jacket.

Marlon Resureccion, one of the 46 rescued passengers, claimed that the woman was the one he saw floating in the water before they were rescued. With the recovery of the three bodies, authorities are left looking for 24 more missing passengers. Nautical rules Authorities said motor banca "Catalyn B," which had 15 crew members and 59 passengers, collided with fishing vessel "Natalya" four nautical miles off Limbones Island in Cavite at 2:20 a.m. An initial record check by the Coast Guard showed that the Catalyn B, owned by San Nicolas Shipping Lines, left Manila port at 9 p.m. on Wednesday for Lubang Island in Mindoro.
View Catalyn B - Natalya collision map in a larger map In an earlier interview on radio dzBB, Commodore Luis Tuason Jr., chief of the Metro Manila Coast Guard, said the wooden passenger vessel, weighing 79 gross tons, sank after its bow rammed the stern of the steel Natalya, weighing 369 gross tons. The collision was not caused by any weather disturbance or equipment problem, Tuason said. But according to Tuason, an initial investigation by the Coast Guard showed that the two vessels may have failed to follow rules of the sea, especially on which vessel will sail along a certain path first. "Klaro kasi dito na nagkaroon ng problema sa pag-o-observe nautical rules (It is clear that there was a problem in following nautical rules)," he said. "Meron tayong rules kung ano ang privileged, ano ang stand-on vessel, at kung sakaling ikaw ang privileged vessel at hindi sumusunod yung kabilang barko ay kinakailangan din mag-evade ka rin, mag-take ka ng evasive actions para hindi matuloy ang collision (There are privileged vessels, and there are stand-on vessels. If you're the privileged vessel and the other vessel doesn't follow the rules, you have to take evasive actions that will prevent the collision)," he said. Previous incidents On May 25, 2003, M/V Super Ferry 12 and M/V San Nicolas collided off Limbones Island, killing 43 people. One hundred eighty two persons survived the sea tragedy. Tuason said the area off Limbones Island had since been monitored by the Coast Guard using traffic equipment located on Corregidor Island. Sea accidents are common in the Philippines due to tropical storms, badly maintained boats, and weak enforcement of safety regulations. [See: Major marine mishaps in the Philippines] In June 2008, a ferry capsized after sailing towards a powerful typhoon off Romblon, killing more than 800 people on board. In December 1987, the ferry Doña Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker, killing 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster. - Mark Dalan Merueñas/LBG/RSJ/KBK/ARCS, GMANews.TV