Puerto Princesa City—A coastal patrol boat of the Philippine Navy on Thursday rescued 28 fishermen from their sinking boat, some 35 miles northeast of El Nido municipality in northern Palawan.
Capt. Cherryl Tindog, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the Western Command, said Friday the fishermen aboard the Athan Uno were on their way to the West Philippine Sea when it sank due to strong waves.
Upon receiving a distress call from the fishing boat at about 8 a.m., she said the Wescom, through the Joint Task Force Malampaya, immediately dispatched BRP Nestor Reinoso skippered by Commander Roldydin Cris Sergio for the search and rescue operation.
“They were on their way to the WPS to catch fish, but due to strong waves, their boat wasn’t able to make it and began sinking. It was the boat captain who made the distress call,” Tindog told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
The coastal patrol boat located the fishermen about 2 miles southeast of the Alcon Production platform where they temporarily anchored.
“By the time the rescuers arrived, the boat was half-submerged and was being towed by another motor banca. However, both boats were being struck by strong waves,” she said.
The rescued fishermen, all residents of Caminawit, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, are now with the El Nido Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
“They are all under our care and we are already communicating with the municipal government of San Jose so they can go home,” the MDRRMO chief here, Raymund Osorio, said.