Cebu City, Philippines - Battling choppy waves, four men were able to swim or ride a lifeboat to the coast a kilometer away.But there were no signs of life on board the MV Princess of the Stars on Sunday when rescuers reached the site where the vessel capsized off Sibuyan Island, Romblon province. The Sulpicio Lines vessel had 845 people on board when it sailed from Manila for Cebu City and encountered “engine trouble” in the middle of typhoon Frank Saturday morning. “Wala nang signs of life,” said Gilbert Ruiz, a civilian rescuer, who took a speedboat from San Fernando town in Romblon and accompanied a Navy boat at 6 a.m. He said there were no flotation devices, bodies or boats in the water nearby. Only the rear of the ship was visible above the water and a large hole was seen on the left side of the boat, he said. In Cebu City, families of the passengers and crew crowded the Sulpicio Lines office anxious to hear any word about their loved ones lost at sea. Company spokesman Manuel Espina, who released copies of the ship manifest, said there were 724 passengers, including children, and 121 crew members or a total of 845 on board. Rescuers still hope to find more survivors who may have reached islets like the Isla de Gallo near the sinking site. The Coast Guard vessel BRP Batangas reached the site past noon. Two rubber boats approached the ship. Rescuers tried to knock on the hull in the hope that there were people alive inside. There was no response. Divers will have to search the over 23,000-ton passenger vessel for passengers who may be trapped inside. The ship was found “upturned, in an inverted position,” said Philippine Coast Guard commander, Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo. Bad weather delayed rescue efforts. The Coast Guard’s BRP Batangas, which left Cebu at 8 p.m. on Saturday, only arrived past 12 noon on Sunday because of the strong waves. Four survivors turned up in the coastal barangay (village) of Mabini and were brought to the residence of San Fernando Mayor Nanette Tangsinco of Romblon. “They are now resting in our guest house. They have no injuries except for some bruises,” Tangsinco told Cebu Daily News. She identified the survivors as crewman Renato Lanoria from Bantayan, Cebu; Jesus Gica of Barangay Opao, Mandaue City; Jessie Bout of Siquijor province; Oliver Amorin of Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City. Gica said passengers jumped off the ship in panic after the vessel tilted. “Grabi na kaayo ang takilid sa barko, maong mga pasahero apil na ko nangambak na lang sa barko. Dunay uban nangahulog pod sa barko kay mitakilid na man og maayo” (The ship was leaning to one side. That’s why the passengers jumped off. Some passengers just fell off because of the steep angle of the boat’s tilting),” Gica, 41, said in a radio DYSS interview. He recalled that strong winds started to rock the boat about 7 a.m. Saturday after he ate breakfast. By 9 a.m., the ship’s crew were advising passengers to put on life jackets. At noon, some passengers began to jump off the boat.
Gica said he was able to grab a life raft but he abandoned it because of the strong winds and decided to just swim. “Lain kaayo ang bawod mora ka ug suyupon sa ilawom (It was as if the waves were trying to pull you under the sea),” he said. Gica said he saw an old woman already floating dead in the water. After swimming for some hours, he got hold of a piece of wood, which kept him afloat till he reached the coast. Mayor Tansingco said she hoped to find more survivors in Isla de Gallo, the nearest islet where the boat capsized. Big waves had damaged many local pumpboats, delaying rescue efforts. Four fatalities were confirmed. In the coastal areas of San Fernando, fishermen found the bodies of a boy about 12 years old, a girl wearing a ring bearing the name “Rose,” and an elderly man and woman, believed to be a couple, who were found dead with their hands tied to each other. Mayor Tansingco said she had the cadavers embalmed and placed in wooden coffins. The woman with the ring marked “Rose” was in her 30s and was wearing a black blouse and denim pants. The Coast Guard said that in another coastal village of Mabini, a woman and a child were also found dead but details were still being verified. The fate of the bulk of the passengers and crew on board remain a mystery. “Up to now, we cannot determine if the (more than) 700 passengers and crew are inside the ship or if they were able to swim to the Cristo de Gallo Island," Romblon Representative Eleandro Madrona told the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) via speakerphone.
The NDCC was convened Sunday morning as typhoon Frank battered several provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and left 82 people dead. Madrona said the Cristo de Gallo Island was some 30 minutes away by tug boat from where the ship sank. "If there were passengers who were able to jump ship and swim to the island, most likely there'd be survivors," he said. | 
