8 rescued, 2 missing as boats sank in Cagayan, Isabela

Tuguegarao City, CAGAYAN — Eight fishermen were rescued while two others went missing over the weekend when two boats sank in separate incidents in northern Luzon, police said. Eight passengers of MV San Bartolome, which was bound from Calayan island to Claveria town in Cagayan, were rescued by volunteers when the boat met strong waves and winds and capsized off Linao village, according to Chief Inspector Jorge Cablarta, chief of Aparri police. Rescued were Felino Fernando, 53; Arthur Fernando Duerme, 33, and his wife Mercy, 32, and son Boy Arthur, seven months; Fernando Llopis, 29; Prince Fernando, 29; Rexum Fernando, 19, and Vincent Caddarao, 19. They clung to sealed containers and pieces of wood until rescuers saw and saved them, Cablarta said. The passengers claimed that the weather was fine when they left the Calayan port but they later encountered strong winds and waves upon reaching the Aparri area. In Isabela, search-and-rescue operations have been intensified to locate Mardie Guray and Oliver Sabat, who remained misisng after they went fishing off the sea in coastal Dinapigue town. Their fellow fishermen, Michael Dugo and Jordan Pablo, informed the police that at least 10 boatmen went into the sea to catch fish over the weekend. However, strong winds and waves struck their boats. Others managed to swerve back except Guray and Sabat. – Joel Nueva/KBK, GMANews.TV