Emotions run high in Pilar as survivors, caskets arrive
Caskets of MB Kim Nirvana-B fatalities upon arrival in Pilar, Camotes.
(FB post of Ryan Christopher Sorote)
Emotions ran high when survivors of the MB Kim Nirvana-B tragedy and the white caskets containing the remains of the fatalities arrived in Pilar town in the Camotes Islands yesterday.
Barangay Upper Poblacion Councilor Jason Roa, who waited at the port to meet some of his friends who survived the accident, said he could not explain his feelings upon seeing the survivors and their relatives crying and hugging each other.
“Grabe kaayo makatandog ang sitwasyon, naghinilakay ug ginaksanay, makaapil sab ta’g hilak nga nagtan-aw ra (It was very emotional. People were crying and hugging each other. I couldn’t help but cry),” Roa said.
As of Saturday evening, the death toll has increased to 61 with the recovery of two more bodies. MB Kim Nirvana-B capsized last Thursday shortly after it left Ormoc port for Camotes.
Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Batangas braved the rough seas to transport a total of 342 survivors and their relatives as well as 45 coffins to Pilar on Ponson Island, one of three major islands of the Camotes group of islands.
The vessel arrived at past 1 p.m. yesterday, but could not dock because of shallow waters.
The survivors and their relatives were transferred to motorboat MB Junmar 2, which brought them to port at about 2:30 p.m., said Cebu provincial information officer Ethel Natera.
The survivors were treated to a late lunch of pancit, mung beans and champorado at the municipal hall. Each of the survivors received relief goods consisting of 5 kilos of rice and canned goods each.
They will also receive cash assistance of P2,000 each.
Pilar Mayor Jesus Fernandez Jr. said personnel from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office conducted preliminary stress debriefing with some survivors. The debriefing will continue today, after the survivors have rested.
Nearly three days after the tragedy, the survivors of the ill-fated MB Kim Nirvaba-B went home to Pilar Island, Camotes Cebu on board a BRP Batanes vessel Sunday
(Photo by Ryan Christopher Sorote)
Of the 45 caskets that arrived yesterday, 36 were brought to the Pilar municipal gym for a priest’s blessing before they were released to the families while 7 are to be brought to Tudela town on Poro Island and 1 to San Francisco on Pacijan Island.
The families of the fatalities from Pilar will receive P10,000 cash assistance from the municipal government.
Tudela Mayor Erwin Yu said 11 Tudela residents perished in the tragedy. The remains of 7 fatalities were in Pilar while 3 have been claimed by relatives in Leyte, he added. He did not say where the remains of one more fatality was.
Yu said some 60 survivors and their families will have to travel again to Tudela from Pilar along with the caskets of 7 fatalities.
Gina Pugosa, 43, one of the survivors, said she had to stay at the back of the Coast Guard vessel to avoid seeing the big waves during their trip.
Pugosa went to Ormoc to buy supplies for her sari-sari store in barangay Moabog, Pilar.
“Pasalamat ko sa Ginoo nga nakauli pa ko sa Pilar nga buhi (I am thankful to God that I am still alive),” she said. Her husband met her at the port.
Since she lives on an island, she said travel by sea is inevitable.
She confirmed earlier reports of overloading, saying several passengers were not in the manifest.
Based on the list of survivors and the death toll, the boat was carrying more than 200 passengers.
A Coast Guard personnel earlier said the boat’s capacity was only for 178 passengers.
Pugosa said the boat tilted when the captain maneuvered it sharply towards Camotes and the sacks of cements and rice at the back of the boat fell.
Pugosa said she was in an interior part of the boat and had to find a hold before the boat capsized. Luckily, she said she knows how to swim.
Her neighbors and relatives who did not know how to swim perished.
Pilar has been placed under a state of calamity because of the tragedy.
Tudela will also be declared under a state of calamity when its municipal council meets today, Yu said.
The families of the fatalities will also be given P10,000 assistance each while the survivors will receive relief goods.
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