Unsung heroes: Talisay fishers first to rescue captain, survivors

The first to respond to the sinking of the MV St. Thomas Aquinas which collided with a cargo ship a year ago were local fishermen in Talisay City.

When the distress flares were seen in the sky, fishermen from barangay Tangke who were resting at the beach leaped into action.

“Diri jud mi sa lantay nagtambay,” recalled Arnel Badajos in an interview for the first year anniversary of the tragedy.

He and his friend Louie immediately called out to their neighbors. Using flashlights and their motorized bancas, 46 of them rushed to Lauis Ledge, where the flares were seen.

“Dili sad namo sila dapat pasagdan ato kay emergency man to. Nagdali mi ug sakay sa among banca ato,” he told Cebu Daily News. (We couldn’t just ignore an emergency. We hurried to get out our boats.)

The MV St. Thomas Aquinas, a passenger ship of 2GO Travel had collided with the freighter MV Sulpicio Express Siete on August 16. The passenger ship sank about 30 minutes after the impact.

Even before Coast Guard personnel arrived past 9 p.m, fishermen were at sea. Badajos was the one who plucked out of the water Capt. Reynan Bermejo, skipper of the Aquinas, along with other survivors.

Bermejo was in his white uniform with three jackets, Badajos recalled.

“Bisag kinsa nga among ma-abtan amo jud ng salbaron. Ako pa gani syang gitabangan nga makasaka sa banca kay ga lisod man sya ug saka,” he added. (We wanted to save whoever we could. I had to help him up because he had difficulty getting on the boat.)

Badajos said the skipper was silent on their way back to the pier before 2Go representatives secured him. He recalls the captain saying he was grateful for saving his life.

“I didn’t ask him about what happened. I told him that I would take him to Pier 6 but he insisted that it’s better in baragay Tangke,” said Badajos in Cebuanos.

More than 800 passengers and crew were on board when the sea mishap took place.
The accident claimed 116 lives with 21 still missing.