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6 dead, 20 missing as ferry sinks off island in Batangas
(Update 2 - 12:49 a.m.) At least six people were killed while almost two dozens remain missing after a passenger ferry listed and sank off Verde Island in Batangas province Saturday night, a Philippine Coast Guard report said Sunday afternoon. Combined reports from the Coast Guard and the National Disaster Coordinating Council identified the six fatalities as Johnny Mutya, 36; Leahlyn Peñaranda, 19; eight-month-old baby girl Barbara Galanza; Hermie Ann Largado, 22; John Panagsagan, 40; and Jennylyn Gutierrez, 20. A 3:30 p.m. Coast Guard update said the items recovered from Penaranda were the P220,000 cash in her pocket, a Nokia cell phone, and a driver's license. Found with Barbara were an N-79 cell phone and a silver necklace. M/V Baleno 9, a roll-on, roll-off (RORO) vessel owned by Besta Shipping Lines, sailed from Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro on Saturday night to Batangas City with at least 88 passengers, 18 of whom were crew members. At past 10 p.m., it sank in the Verde Island Passage between Mindoro and the southern coast of Batangas, known to marine scientists as "the center of the center of marine biodiversity," with more marine shore diversity than any other place in the world. 
Surivors Coast Guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said 62 have been rescued, while 20 remained missing. A partial list of survivors brought to the Batangas Port included Joseph Aldaba Jr., Eric Glenn, Edison Escares, Francisco Barbajano, Rona Avila, Michael Talipay, Alberto Perez, Reynaldo Madrigal, Eduardo Quimbo, and Edwin Hidalbo. Those who were identified only with either their first names or surnames were Archie, Perry, and Buboy; Hermogenes Jr., Delos Reyes, Cajoyong, and two with surname Peñaranda. Survivor Eryss Glenn Musni, 14, told The Associated Press that he and his family were on their way home to northern Pampanga province after spending Christmas with his grandparents in central Iloilo city when the accident happened. He said he became separated from his parents, five siblings and three other relatives when the ship tilted and panicked passengers rushed to jump off, many unable to get life vests. "Everyone rushed to get out. Some pulled other people, and in the water, some grabbed other people so they would not drown," he said. Musni said he and two strangers clung to a life preserver for an hour before they were rescued. He said his mother and sister remained missing but other family members had been rescued. The crew may have neglected to inspect the ship's doors before setting sail and some may have been left open, said Elena Bautista, head of the Maritime Industry Authority. Cause of sinking Tamayo said they were still looking into the cause of the sinking. “We don’t want to be conclusive on what we are saying. We are conducting a formal investigation," he said. Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), said the vans and trucks carried by M/V Baleno 9 had not been properly strapped to the vessel. When the ties loosened, the ferry tilted and eventually sank, he said. “Ang mga sasakyan, ang mga truck, yun ang naging rason kung bakit tumikwas ang barko (The vehicles, the trucks caused the ship's tilting)," Gordon said.
M/V Baleno with at least 88 people on board sank 1.6 nautical miles southeast of San Agapito, Isla Verde past 10 p.m., Saturday. Location map of Isla Verde by Google
