15 May 2006
By Ephraim Aguilarand Michael Jaucian
PDI Southern Luzon Bureau
LEGAZPI CITY--ONE OF THE 27 people who died when the motorboat Mae-Ann 5 sank at the height of storm “Caloy” didn’t want to be at sea because he was afraid of big waves.
The man was Wilfredo Magdaraog, who was actually a bus inspector of Lobrigo Bus Lines but was temporarily assigned as an inspector on the Mae-Ann 5 by its owners, who also owned the bus firm.
“My father’s boss said he would be working on the boat for only one week but it had already been one month and he (the boss) would not let go of him,” Annabelle, eldest daughter of Magdaraog, told the Inquirer between sobs.
The outrigger, which plied the Masbate-Pilar route, sank on Friday morning.
The overall storm casualty toll compiled by the Inquirer from official sources and from its correspondents in the field stood yesterday at 37. They included 10 people who were killed by falling trees and walls or who were electrocuted elsewhere in Bicol and the Visayas.
Annabelle, 29, said in a mobile phone interview that her father had long been asking his boss, Lobrigo, to transfer him back to his regular assignment as a bus inspector.
But she said his employers kept him on the boat in a temporary assignment.
“He had a fear of the big waves that they would encounter from time to time,” the daughter said.
The Mae-Ann 5 had been anchored at the Masbate port when Caloy struck.
Seeking cover
Fearing that big waves might batter the vessel, the captain told the passengers that they would seek a safe place to dock.
About one kilometer from the port, however, the boat collided with a fishing banca filled with clams, causing it to capsize, surviving passengers recounted.
Many passengers died immediately after the boat overturned.
As of the latest count, 27 bodies had been recovered, according to Chief Supt. Victor Boco, Bicol police director and Regional Disaster Coordinating Council chair.
“At around 2 a.m., while the passengers were asleep, we heard the boat’s engine running and we noticed the boat was sailing away from the port,” survivor Gary Tagayom said.
Upside down
“Suddenly, the boat was hit by big waves, turning it upside down. My two children and wife died,” he said.
The management of the shipping line earlier advised the passengers to sleep on the boat as they could not yet sail.
Ramil Kilat, another survivor, said that between 2 and 3 a.m., the captain told passengers that they had to get away from the port to avoid the big waves, which could slap the boat against the dock, wrecking the vessel.
It was while the boat was sailing away that the disaster occurred.
Clinging to a rope
“It happened so fast. All we knew was that the boat had already capsized,” Kilat said.
Some of the passengers, clinging to a rope, were able to scramble to the other boat carrying the
clams.
“I was one of those who held on tight to the rope. I was able to transfer to the other boat, a smaller one,” Kilat recalled. “I thought it was already my end. Thank God, I’m still alive.”
Floodwaters have begun to recede in many of the affected areas but some places in Southern Luzon still remained without power and communication.
In Oriental Mindoro, authorities declared a state of calamity in the City of Calapan.
Aid from Malacañang
Saying that it sympathized with the victims of Caloy, Malacañang yesterday gave its assurance that the government would provide them assistance and support.
“President Arroyo is personally on top of the situation in seeing to it that the national disaster plan is on track to minimize loss of lives and damage to property in the wake of typhoon Caloy,”
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.
In his weekly newspaper column, Bunye said that the government was prepared for any contingencies, now that the rainy season was here.
“All hands of the national and local governments are on deck to check and warn of disaster-prone areas, provide relief and rehab to affected communities, assist stranded commuters and keep an eye on the prices of essential commodities,” he said.
Hazardous billboards
Bunye said that Ms Arroyo, concerned with public safety, also wanted the giant billboards in Metro Manila to be inspected by authorities after several of them were damaged by the storm.
He said the President had ordered the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to coordinate with the Departments of Transportation and Communications and Public Works and Highways as well as local authorities to check the billboards “that could pose a serious threat to the public during strong typhoons.” With reports from Luige A. del Puerto and Madonna Virola, Gerald Querubin and Marlon Ramos, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau
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