philippine navy

• Coast Guard scours Maitum waters as five bodies airlifted to Davao

AUTHORITIES airlifted five recovered bodies back to Davao City as the search for the missing entered its seventh day, and unfavorable weather forced the temporary suspension of aerial operations.

Meanwhile, another body was found by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel, MCS 3010, on Sunday afternoon and transferred to BRP Panglao, which then made its way to Balut Island. 

During a virtual briefing on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 25, Commodore Philipps Soria, commander of Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao, announced that while sea-based efforts continue, air assets are currently grounded.

“Our air assets are limited today due to reduced visibility,” Soria said. “We have temporarily suspended aerial searches because winds have reached the maximum safety limits for our aircraft.”

He said that they intended to leave some ground assets to continue searching sectors 3 and 4 (in Maitum, Sarangani), where they had several breakthroughs after finding the debris of motorbanca (MBCA) Amejara and the remains of its passengers.

“Tomorrow, we will move up on the upper portion of Sector 3 and Sector 4, of course, with the assets of the Philippine Navy, with two ships, LC 206 and PS 37,” he said.

“Also assisting in the aerial surveillance is the Philippine Navy aircraft, and on the part of the Coast Guard, we have four vessels helping in search and rescue operations. We also have one aircraft for aerial search, and for the part of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), they have also dedicated two Blackhawk (helicopters) and one Cessna Caravan that is also helping in aerial search,” Soria added.

What happened? 

Lt. Jason Lavadia, PCG incident commander, said that the motorbanca left Davao City wharf on Jan. 17 bound for Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental, for fishing and recreational activities. At around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 19, the Coast Guard Station in Davao received a distress call from the wife of one of the passengers requesting help.

Initial search efforts were hampered by conflicting location data. While early responders headed toward Davao Occidental, investigators later shifted focus to Cape San Agustin, Davao Oriental—roughly 11.61 nautical miles from where the passengers’ belongings were eventually located.

During the briefing, the Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao presented four sectors on the map.

On day 2, they found the survivor, Christopher Bulig, with a total distance from the last known position of 62.4 nautical miles. “So that’s how far the distance of the first survivor from the last known position,” he added.

On Saturday, Jan. 24, Day 6, four floating cadavers were spotted by a local fishing vessel approximately 60.2 nautical miles south of Magulig Point, Maitum, Sarangani. A fifth body was later recovered by the BRP Tagbanua near Kiamba.

By 8:41 a.m. on Sunday, a Blackhawk helicopter transported all five sets of remains from Balut Island to Tactical Operations Group (TOG) XI in Davao City. The bodies are currently at St. Peter Funeral Parlor in Panacan for identification by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Not losing hope

Despite the recovery of five bodies, Soria emphasized that the mission remains a search and rescue operation, not just a recovery.

“We are not losing hope. The human spirit to survive is very high,” Soria said. “Our search and rescue operations will continue until no longer practicable.”