14 MISSING FROM BOAT COLLISION IDENTIFIED

THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has identified the 14 missing fishing crew and passengers after a local fishing boat collided with a Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel and sank off Occidental Mindoro early Sunday. The missing Filipino fishing crew and passengers of local fishing vessel FV Liberty 5 were identified by the head of the search and rescue operations of the PCG in coordination with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), 4B Fisheries Resource Protection Groups and the local government unit (LGU) of Paluan, Occidental Mindoro. They are Jose Magnes Alfonso (captain), Renante Dahon (chief mate), Reynil Magura (chief engineer), Miguel Booc 3rd (assistant chief engineer), Joeffry Bantog (oiler), Jeerom D. Alaska (oiler), Michael Flores (master hatchman), Jayson Vigonte (hatchman), Adrian Robert Amogod (hatchman), Bartolome Oab Jr. (hatchman), Herbert Dalabajan (hatchman), Reynald Riparip (passenger), Ariel Tabang (passenger) and Edwardo Manipol Jr. (passenger). PCG spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo earlier said the 45-meter local fishing vessel was headed for Navotas City, Metro Manila from Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi when it collided with the cargo vessel ViennaWood. According to BFAR, the boat’s captain, Jose Magnes Alfonso, is from Aklan while the rest of the crew and passengers are from Palawan. “The DA-BFAR offers its sincerest thoughts to the families of the missing fishing crew and passengers during this difficult time. The agency will give one sack of rice as initial immediate assistance to each family and assures them of livelihood assistance such as 30-footer motorized fiberglass fishing boats,” the bureau said in a statement. The Department of Agriculture-BFAR also vowed to continue to provide assistance in the investigation and search and rescue efforts of the PCG and the LGU of Paluan. Meanwhile, Fernando Hicap, national chairman of fishers group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas said “the initial report of the PCG was sufficient enough to hold the Chinese perpetrators accountable for endangering the lives of Filipino fishing crew.”