Three fishermen from Virac were rescued by a passing banca out in the Pacific Ocean last Wednesday morning, 12 hours after their own banca was overturned by a waterspout the night before.
According to Noli Borilla, 44, a resident of barangay Danicop, he and companions Roberto Magay, 45, also of Danicop, and Rexon Avila, 40, of San Vicente, set out to sea at 9 AM of Aug. 11, 2025 from the shore of San Vicente aboard the nine-meter, twin-engine motorized banca owned by Salvacion Avila.
Past 11 AM, they reached the vicinity of the buoy in the area known as “Nagtarorong” to veteran fishermen, some 40 miles (64 kilometers) away from the capital town somewhere in the ocean east of the island.
“Nahiling pa man ang isla, pero dai nang signal ang cellphone,” Borilla said in an interview with the Tribune.
He added that they anchored there as the buoy attracted fish, and by evening of Tuesday, Aug. 12, had already caught 40 kilos of “turingan” (skipjack tuna) and 20 kilos of juvenile “dorado” (mahi-mahi).
They planned to head for home the very next day, as they did not bring enough ice for the fishing trip.
But the fickle weather had other plans for the trio, who were alone in the fishing spot at the time.
“Lantong su dagat, pagkaginayon ning panahon, dai man ning bagyo,” he recalled the weather at the time.
At about 10 PM, it started to rain and the sea began to get rough, Borilla recounted.
“Biglang nagdurom, nagsubasko,” he said, prompting them to get their raincoats.
Then a sudden flash of lightning revealed to them a terrifying sight, a waterspout bearing down on their location.
“Iguang kibrat ning riwanag, nahiling mi su ipo-ipo,” he said, adding that they tied themselves separately to Wthe banca using lengths of rope so they could be found together, dead or alive.
The edge of the whirling mass of air and water caught their banca, tossing it around three times before capsizing the frail vessel and its helpless occupants.
“Nag-agui samo su ipo-ipo, ga-toho ang dagat,” Borilla stated, adding that the waterspout was as wide as the Danicop plaza and it felt that it was pressing the banca down into the water.
“Mayad nganing gilid sana, ta kung natahaw-tahaw, wailak kami, dai na kami makua,” he told the Tribune.
When the tornado-like vortex passed and the weather cleared after about 30 minutes, the three fishermen clung to the bamboo outriggers of the overturned and damaged banca until fishermen aboard two motorized banca from Marinawa, Bato, spotted them at 10 AM of Wednesday, Aug. 13.
We knew other fishing bancas would pass by the buoy,” he stressed, citing his experience in nearly two decades of fishing out in the open sea since he was 22.
Their rescuers helped them right the overturned boat so it could be towed to shore much easier since it was sunk in the water.
Shortly before the Bato fishermen and their rescued brethren arrived at San Vicente at about 4:30 PM, barangay kagawad Nilo Avila immediately relayed the information to the Virac Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO), which coordinate with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Virac Substation to ensure a prompt response and provide necessary assistance.
At the shoreline, Dr. Merphil Janelyn Zafe and staff of the Rural Health Unit (RHU) conducted a medical assessment of the three individuals and found them to be in stable condition with no serious injuries.
While the experience brought fear and uncertainty into their lives, Borilla said they are left with no choice but to go out to sea again.
“Mapilitan kami maglawog otro ta adyan ang hanapbuhay mi,” he remarked, adding that during good days, they take home P3,000 each from their catch after the boat owner had deducted expenses and profit.
He remarked that he is lucky to be alive as this is the second time that he was almost lost at sea, the first when a low-pressure area suddenly developed into a storm and the bad weather caught him and his companions in the ocean east of Tambongon, Viga.
According to the US National Weather Service, a waterspout – a column of cloud-filled wind rotating over a body of water – fall into two categories: fair weather waterspouts and tornadic waterspouts.
Fair weather waterspouts usually form along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds.
On the other hand, tornadic waterspouts are associated with severe thunderstorms and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.
Both tornadic and fair-weather waterspouts require high levels of humidity and a relatively warm water temperature compared to the overlying air. Thus, they are most common in tropical and subtropical waters.
The average spout is around 50 meters (165 feet) in diameter, with wind speeds of 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour), corresponding to the weakest types of tornadoes on land. The largest waterspouts can have diameters of 100 meters (330 feet) and last for up to one hour, though the average lifetime is just