TACLOBAN CITY- A cargo motorboat loaded with four passengers and merchandise escaped from sinking after it made a distress call with the Coast Guard in Naval, Biliran on Friday (August 3) afternoon.
The motorboat, MB Jemarlet, was sailing in between Sambawan Island, off Maripipi, Biliran province and Masbate province, when one of the passengers made a call at their office at about 2:30 pm, said Glen Asis of the Naval-Coast Guard.
“The said motorboat encountered big waves reason why one of the passengers made the distress call as they were afraid that they might sink as water started to enter their motorboat,” Asis, in a phone interview, said.
The rescued motorboat, captained by Lucas Solibaga with three passengers and loaded with 140 sacks of mangoes and 15 pigs, docked safely at Barangay San Lorenzo, Kawayan, also in Biliran, at around 4:30 pm.
Commodore Lawrence Roque, chief of the Tacloban Coast Guard, in a separate interview, said that MB Jemarlet left from Pio V. Corpus, Masbate at around 11:30 am Friday and on its way to Tacloban City where the loaded products are to be sold when it encountered big waves.
“The said motorboat arrived here in Tacloban port at around 1 am Saturday with all of its passengers safe and unharm,” Roque said.
Roque also said that another motorboat, MB Rea Angela, which also travelled 30 minutes ahead from MB Jemarlet, also from Pio V. Corpus which had seven passengers captained by Julie Amaroto, and loaded with more than 100 sacks of mangoes and 15 pigs, arrived in Tacloban safely.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
