We nearly lost all hope that we would be found, said the two fishermen from San Andres town who were stranded at sea without food for three days last week.
In an interview with the Tribune, Romeo Olino, 64, said he and companion Rene Subion, 59, left the fishing village of Codon after noon of Aug. 19, 2022 on board a eight-meter motorized wooden banca owned by their neighbor.
They were bound for the narrow Maqueda Channel for a fishing trip that usually takes them two nights and a day to complete before returning home and brought enough food for the trip, including uncooked rice.
When they arrived at the Pasawayan fishing ground, they were about some distance from the Camarines Sur but Olino said they could clearly see a mangrove area and a nearby lighthouse.
By the second day, they had already caught about 80 kilos of “atuloy” (big-eye scad) that filled two styropor boxes.
However, the weather began deteriorating and by 5 AM of Aug. 21 (Sunday), all the 20-plus fishing bancas in the area had already hurried for the island.
Olino said that when they first started the diesel engine, it sputtered then came to a stop and failed to run despite their best efforts.
With the waves already getting rough and heavy rain starting to fall, the two fishermen dropped their anchor and maneuvered their banca so it would face the waves.
By the time, they could no longer see the distant shore that was already lost in the rain and the dark clouds.
Olino said it is common for fishermen at sea to get lost in this kind of weather, with some of their townmates ending up north in Caramoran or Pandan.
They had brought no cellphone, as there is no signal at the middle of the channel. They also had no compass, life jackets or raincoats, with only a strip of canvass to protect them from the elements.
Their food was nearly gone and even if there were some rice left, they could no longer cook it as their matches were wet. But at least they had some water left in a gallon container.
By then the fish they caught had already began to spoil. They eventually threw the fish overboard when they were rescued.
Still they did not lose hope and hunkered down under the flimsy tarp, with a 12-volt bulb attached to a car battery serving as their light during the evening.
By the second day, fellow fishermen, along with separate teams from the Philippine Coast Guard and the San Andres Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), had launched search and rescue missions along the breadth and length of the Maqueda Channel.
One big motor banca from Mayngaway reportedly saw the two fishermen’s banca from a distance but did not approach.
Eventually, one of three teams from Codon that went separate ways – composed of Rafael Gianan, Gener Subion and Michael Tapia – eventually spotted Olino and Subion, who both cried “Salamat sa Diyos!” as their saviors approached.
The duo said they were so weak that could barely stand after arriving on the shore.
At the modest “media-talle” house with GI roofing that he calls home, Olino said he is not sure he would be ready to go back to fishing, the livelihood he has known since he was just 18 years old.
He lives alone, with his wife working as a domestic helper in Naga City and his five children all in Manila.
Subion, on the other hand, has four children with his wife who is already dead and, like Olino, has been fishing since he was in his teens.
They said that had they were able to come back that Aug. 21 with their 80 kilos of fish that usually sold for P200 per kilo, they would have netted more than P2,000 each.
For their three-day ordeal at sea, they were given two food packs consisting of three kilos of rice and canned goods by the Philippine Red Cross and the San Andres MDRRMO.
There was no counterpart assistance from the barangay council, which does require fishermen from registering before going out to sea.
The two men usually go out to fish daily and at times for two days straight like the last time.
Olino prefers to rest for now and his companion can do nothing but wait for the time when Olino is ready.
But like majority of the marginal fishermen in Catanduanes who have nothing to depend on, they would have to go out to sea soon and face its dangers sans lifejackets or compasses.