'Quinta' sinks boat off Iloilo; 11 die, 3 missing

MANILA, Philippines - The death toll in the sea mishap off Iloilo rose to 11 - including three children - as local authorities recovered two more bodies off the sunken motorized banca Thursday night. Three others remain missing, a local official said. Concepcion town vice mayor John Arcosa told GMANews.TV. in a phone interview that the latest recovered bodies were those of Regine Caberoy and Adam Clark Villaran. He said he just learned of the latest recoveries from the local police. Police told him that the bodies of the two were recovered at about 7 p.m. Arcosa added that out of the 43 total passengers, 29 survived the incident. Seven of the survivors were brought to Sara town District Hospital for medical check –ups. The other 22 survivors, Arcosa said, immediately went home to their relatives. Arcosa identified the 11 fatalities of the MB Roliv as: * Frenz Depositario, 5; * Adam Clark Villaran, 5; * Regine Caberoy, 8; * Lonel Villaran, 29; * Shiela Olano, 30; * Aida Libre, 55; * Antonia Dela Cruz, 58; * Lila Bilanio, 60; * Meriam Sulundagit, 60; * Carmen Padrillan, 71; and * Juanito Mosico, 71 All of the bodies, meanwhile, have already been claimed by its relatives since the passengers of the boat are all residents of Bagongon village in Concepcion town. “Nakuha na lahat at hindi na sila dumaan dito sa bayan kasi napakalapit lang sa mga bahay nila yung pinaglubugan," Arcosa said. Arcosa added that the search and rescue operations for the three passengers who are still missing will resume tomorrow morning. Quinta Arcosa said the boat came from the mainland where the passengers bought rice when strong gusts of wind and big waves rocked the boat around 1:30 p.m. The boat sank about 200 meters away from the shoreline of Bagongon island. The passengers, who were residents of the island's Sitio Olpoc, went to the mainland because Thursday is "market day" for the island's residents, he said. "Kanina pauwi na itong boat na ito, kasama na yung mga galing sa bayan. Dumating itong bagyo, di namin alam na malakas ito. Ala-una lumakas yung alon," said Arcosa. Iloilo province, among other areas in Luzon and Visayas, has been placed under public storm warning signal no. 1 due to tropical depression "Quinta," which is packing maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour as of 5 p.m. Thursday. State weather forecasters have earlier advised that sailing amid the inclement weather would be risky for small marine vessels. According to Office of Civil Defense - Western Visayas director Rosario Cabrera, the motorized banca should not have been sailing anymore because of the weather advisory. "We are still awaiting for the detailed information because its Signal No. 1 here, it should not be sailing already," said Cabrera. "As of 10 a.m. we received advisory from Pagasa. After the Coast Guard received it, travel of all ferry should be canceled already." "We retrieved nine bodies already. So far we have no report how many are missing and there was still no information as to the number of passengers," he added. Cabrera said the Coast Guard maintains a station in Concepcion, which he said has many island barangays. 3 other boats capsize Arcosa said three other small boats carrying fishermen capsized off Bagongon island because of the big waves, but no fatalities have been reported from those incidents. Arcosa said that the pump boats came from Carles, Iloilo and that at least seven survivors were rescued. He said that the three boats were being used for fishing when they capsized. The sea mishaps came in the wake of another sinking--MB Don Dexter Cathlyn, which capsized off Masbate Tuesday night, leaving at least 42 passengers dead and at least 10 more missing.- GMANews.TV