Philippine Coast Guard rescues Spanish divers, Filipino guides off Palawan Island

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 20, 2008) – The Philippine Coast Guard rescued three Spanish divers, including their four Filipino guides off Palawan island after their boat developed engine trouble and drifted more than 31 hours, according to the official Philippine News Agency.

It said the seven were rescued at around 1 p.m. on Friday. “We were able to keep track of their location because we were able to communicate and receive text messages from one of the divers, Carlos Blanche,” said Coast Guard Commander Vanni Bergantin.

The Spanish divers were identified as Jaime Blanche, Carlos Blanche, and Tito Solan and the Filipinos - Bernardo Sedantes, Butch Sedantes, Boy Sedantes, and Ricaldo Galgo.

The Coast Guard said the seven men were reported missing since Thursday.

Their boat’s engine failed and the vessel drifted into open sea. “When we learned that they were one or two nautical miles away from Matanabis Island in Palawan, we alerted Agutaya Mayor Sim Zabalo who immediately dispatched fishing boats,” Bergantin said.

The Coast Guard said it first sighted the boat near Boracay island on Thursday, but the search and rescue operations were hampered by rough sea. The boat, named Maruja, drifted more than 45 nautical miles until it was again sighted off Palawan.

Bergantin said they were unable to get near the boat due to strong winds and huge waves. “With the help of the responding fishing boats, the troubled vessel was finally rescued and brought to Matanabis Island,” he said.

Help Protect Our Sea, Philippine Coast Guard Appeals

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 27, 2008) – The Philippine Coast Guard on Saturday appealed to citizens to protect the marine environment and urged them to help in then government’s campaign in cleaning up the country’s coastlines.

It said pollution is threatening the marine environment and could spell destruction to the coral beds and animals and plants in the sea.

Senior Officer Maximo Esperon said pollution is also threatening the livelihood of small fishermen and seaweed farmers. He said trash and other garbage littered across the sea coasts and on coral beds, aside from oil spill from water vessels.

“Time will come when ordinary fishermen could no longer catch fish in the coastal areas if these malpractices would not be corrected or stopped,” Esperon said."We appeal to citizens to help protect our sea."

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is also alarmed by the pollution at sea and largely blamed chemical and oil spills from ships and oil tankers.

Volunteers and divers in Zamboanga City and Lamitan City in Basilan province have recently banded together and launched separate campaigns to clean the sea. (Erico Rosco)

Philippine Coast Guard Gets Chinese Equipment

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 31, 2008) – Some P20 million worth of Chinese marine pollution control equipment were handed over Thursday to the Coast Guard and Filipino officials said it would be sent immediately to central Philippines where a ferry capsized in June during a typhoon.

The Chinese government donated the equipment last year to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and it was only on Thursday that they had been formally transferred to the Coast Guard.

The equipment include 10,800-meter oil spill boom, 500 pairs of protective overalls, 200 units of high pressure sprayers, among others, according to Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo.

He said it would be sent to Sibuyan Island where the 23,800-ton Princess of the Star which was carrying more than 800 passengers and crew capsized. About 5 dozen people had survived the tragedy. The ship was also carrying cargoes of pesticides and poisonous chemicals. (Chris Navara)

20 Rescued From Burning Ferry Near Sabah

The Federal Rhine is seen in this undated photograph transiting up-bound in the Welland Canal in Canada. The cargo ship and a Singaporean tanker, Alba, have rescued 20 people from a burning Filipino ferry Tuesday July 24, 2007 off the southern Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi near Sabah, says Senior Chief Petty Officer Rodrigo Devero, commander of the Coast Guard in Tawi-Tawi island.

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Jul) – Philippine Coast Guard said 20 people were rescued Tuesday from a burning Filipino ferry off the southern island of Tawi-Tawi near the Sabah border.

Two foreign vessels – a cargo ship and a tanker – spotted the burning ML Katrina and rescued all 14 passengers and six crewmen, Senior Chief Petty Officer Rodrigo Devero, commander of the Coast Guard in Tawi-Tawi island, said.

Devero said a passing Barbadian cargo ship, Federal Rhine, and Singaporean tanker Alba, spotted the burning ferry at around 9.55 a.m. and rescued all its passengers.

He said his team rented a boat to pick up the rescued passengers from the two ships in the middle of the sea. "The cargo (ship) and the tanker are too big for the port of Tawi-Tawi to handle and that's why we picked up the rescued passengers at sea," Devero told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Tawi-Tawi island.

"All the passengers are alright and we are thankful to the crew of the Federal Rhine and Alba for their heroic deeds," he said.

He said they will investigate the cause of the fire. "We are yet to speak to the boat’s captain and the rest of the crew and also get testimonies from the passengers," he said.

Devero said they have reports that the ferry illegally picked up passengers and cargo in Sabah, Malaysia and was heading to Tawi-Tawi when the fire broke out aboard.

"We have reports the ML Katrina came from Sandakan in Sabah and heading home when the fire broke out. We will look into these reports. Some boats are allegedly entering Sabah to pick up or bring illegal Filipino workers," he said.

Thousands of illegal Filipinos have been arrested in Sabah since early this year after spending some time in jails. Many of those arrested had illegally crossed Sabah – despite a strict government campaign - by boat from Tawi-Tawi island to work in construction sites.

Others were duped by illegal recruiters who promised them work in hotels and resorts in Malaysia, but ended up without jobs and money and had been forced to work in palm oil plantations under constant fear of being arrested.

Malaysia has continued its crackdown on foreigners staying illegally in the oil-rich state, just 4 hours by boat from the Filipino island of Sitangkay off Tawi-Tawi.

Malaysia began a crackdown on up to 500,000 illegal foreign workers since 2005 and conducting searches that extended from construction sites in Kuala Lumpur to oil palm plantations in Sabah. The round-up usually involved police, immigration and volunteer squads.

Many of the deportees were Muslims from the southern Philippines who had lived for years in Sabah.

The Malaysian government had previously given amnesty that allowed illegal immigrants to leave the country with a promise they could return as legal workers once they received proper documents.

The government's tough action has enjoyed popular support in Malaysia, where illegal workers, who had numbered more than a million in a country of 24 million people, have been blamed for crime and other social ills.

Kuala Lumpur said the illegal workers do not pay tax and put a heavy burden on state services, such as education and health care, increasing pressure on an already high budget deficit.

Some Filipino deportees said they were herded into overcrowded detention camps before being expelled and others reported tales of abuses inside Malaysian jails. (Mindanao Examiner)