22 beached Koreans in Cagayan sent home

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Immigration officials in Region II said on Wednesday it has allowed the 22 North Korean seafarers to go home after being marooned in Cagayan province for almost a month. According to Chief Supt. Roberto Damian, Cagayan Valley police director, the Koreans were escorted by two agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) to Manila via a passenger bus to undergo final repatriation procedures at the bureau’s central office. All 22 crew members of a Chinese-registered vessel took refuge in a village official’s house in Taggat Norte, Claveria town last December 31 after their ship ran aground some six nautical miles from the town’s shoreline. [See: 22 Koreans rescued after ship loaded with minerals sinks off Cagayan] Earlier, protests have been made by some sectors in the province after preferential treatment was reportedly being extended to the beached seafarers amid allegations that there were illegal drugs inside the ship. [See: BID says grounded Koreans deserve Pinoy hospitality. But do they?] But BID–Aparri chief Eva Antiporda said the assertions were premature at the time, since a counter-inspection made by BID Cagayan Customs Inspector Oliver Lagazo showed that the supposed “illegal drugs" were just flour, tea and food additives as claimed by the ship’s crew. Lagazo’s findings were backed by Damian who was likewise skeptic of a report from a composite team based in neighboring Ilocos Norte province, that drugs were apparently discovered inside the ship. Antiporda also maintained that the foreigners were confirmed to be properly documented and as such shall be treated accordingly “until the allegations are proven and a case is filed before the courts." The Koreans abandoned ship and drifted towards Taggat Norte aboard a lifeboat after the China-bound cargo vessel, which was loaded with 2,615 tons of magnetite, reportedly listed due to its unbalanced cargo. – JMA/JV, GMANews.TV