THE Philippine Coast Guard has extended to Tuesday search and retrieval operations for 14 fishermen and passengers who went missing after their fishing boat was rammed by a Hong Kong-flagged cargo vessel off Occidental Mindoro on June 27.
PCG spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo said the three-day extension that started yesterday was recommended by ground commanders.
“We have to continue the search. We recently found life vests and fish containers at the vicinity of Lubang Island (in Occidental Mindoro),” said Balilo.
The PCG shifted to search and retrieval — from search and rescue — operations on Friday last week for the 14 persons on board the ill-fated FV Liberty 5. The search and retrieval operation had been scheduled to end yesterday.
Several PCG assets, including BRP Boracay, are deployed for the search and retrieval efforts.
The PCG said its sub-stations in the towns of Sablayan and Abra de Ilog, both in Occidental Mindoro, “are now preparing to augment the ongoing operation.”
It said the Philippine Air Force and the PNP Maritime Group are also helping in the retrieval mission.
Initial investigation said FV Liberty 5 was rammed by MV Vienna Wood off Mamburao town on the night of June 27 due to bad water and poor visibility, causing the fishing boat to capsize and later sink.
FV Liberty 5, homeported in Palawan, was on the way to Navotas at that time. The cargo vessel, currently detained in Batangas, came from Subic in Zambales and was en route to Australia at that time of the incident.
