Most of the missing fishermen reportedly ignored the advice of barangay officials not to go out to sea due to the Gale Warnings issued by the national weather agency.
This was confirmed to the Tribune by San Vicente barangay captain Jaime Tabios, who said that hours before they set out to sea, he saw one of them apparently preparing his motorized banca and told him not to go out due to the rough seas.
He later ran into the fisherman’s wife and advised her not to allow her husband to set sail, telling her about the Gale Warning issued by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) that predicted waves of three meters or higher.
Tabios thought that they would heed the warning but he later learned that they left the coastal village at 8 AM of Dec. 21, 2022.
Tabios and Palan del Norte chairman Lino Lumbao attended the briefing conducted by Mayor Samuel Laynes and MDRRMO personnel led by Mark Matira for pilots and other crew members of the Sikorsky S-76A air ambulance helicopter which conducted the search and rescue operation last Monday, Dec. 26.
Pilot-in-command Maj. Cliford Mardicas, who was accompanied by co-pilot Lt. Den Kurt Macapagal and pararescue personnel TSgt. Rogelio Panglinan and Sgt. Paul Yvan dela Cruz during the meeting at the Office of the Mayor, said that based on the aviation fuel, the helicopter would make a two-hour search of the sea between Catanduanes and Albay, following a grid pattern that would pass by the coastline of Rapu-Rapu island before landing at the Philippine Air Force hangar at Legazpi airport.
The four PAF personnel, together with two others who refueled the aircraft, lifted off past 10 AM from Virac airport and would send a report as soon as the day’s search is completed.
The SRR operation yielded negative results. Current sea conditions have prevented sea-borne operations.
Prior to the meeting, the MDRRMO received a message from its Rapu-Rapu counterpart that a body was recovered at the shore of barangay Calanaga and it was identified as that of Arnel Alforte Araojo, 43, single, of Palnab del Norte.
Araojo was among the three companions of Norman Lim, 34, of Palnab del Norte, who survived the ordeal after he was washed ashore in barangay Nagcalsot on Christmas Day.
Last Monday, Dec. 26, the body of Noel Abundo Zafe, 41, married, of Palnab del Norte, was found caught in the mangrove of Paghuliran, Matnog, Sorsogon.
The authorities have identified the other missing fishermen from Virac as Dante David, 41, married, of Palnab Del Sur; Domingo Eboenga Borilla Jr., 33, with live in partner, of San Vicente; and Jayson Rambulo Mandasoc, 31, single, of San Vicente.
There are unconfirmed reports that Borilla and Mandasoc have been found alive in Eastern Samar but the off
Also failing to return from their fishing trip were Viga fishermen Willy Ralf de Leon Uchi, 35; Juanito Torregosa Estrella, 51; Ringo Ogale Tupic, 37; and Jobert Gianan Teaño, 33, all residents of Buenavista.
According to San Vicente chairman Tabios, Domingo Borilla Jr. and Mandasoc was on board a yellow motorized banca that set sail on Dec. 21 at around 8 AM along with another banca owned by Borilla’s namesake father.
On Dec. 23, Borilla Sr. reportedly told his son that he would return home that morning and expected Borilla Jr. to follow suit but he and Mandasoc never arrived.
Incidentally, a sister of Borilla Jr. is married to Norman Lim, a former resident of San Roque, who were with Zafe, David and Araojo on two motorized bancas when they went out to sea at 3 PM of Dec. 22.
In his conversation with Chairman Lumbao, Lim said that they were about to go home at 8 AM of Dec. 23 when their banca was swamped and damaged by big waves and drifted towards Rapu-Rapu.
As they neared the reef, he said he gave a styropor container to Zafe for use as flotation device but a huge wave dashed the latter against the submerged reef while Lim managed to swim ashore.
In Viga, the group of Uchi, Estrella, Tupig and Teano went on board a pink-and-blue motorized banca to an unspecified fishing area in the Pacific Ocan at 7 AM of Dec. 20 and were supposed to return on Dec. 23.
A check of the PAGASA website showed that, due to the shear line and strong northeast monsoon (amihan), gale warnings were issued over the eastern and northern coasts of Catanduanes from Dec. 15-17 and on the entire island from Dec. 18-20.
But the island province was not included in Gale Warning #45 issued at 5 AM of Dec. 21 while the Dec. 22 warning on Dec. 22 listed only the eastern and northern towns of Pandan, Bagamanoc, Panay Island, Gigmoto and Baras as those affected.
The gale warnings advised fishing boats and other small seacraft not to venture out to sea due to strong to gale force winds ranging from 45 to 73 kilometers per hour and rough to very rough seas of 2.8 to 6 meters high.
It is the third straight year that a sea tragedy has struck Catanduanes, records of the Tribune show.
In October 2020, 13 fishermen went missing at sea in two separate occasions as their frail vessels were either sunk or damaged by rough seas brought by tropical depression Ofel and typhoon Quinta. Only three managed to survive their ordeal.
Last year in December, 15 fishermen also went missing after ignoring gale warnings, with only five returning to their families.
One body was found in Batuan town in Ticao Island, Masbate while three bancas were recovered in Sorsogon and off Capul Island in Northern Samar. The others were never found.