Police cordoned off the area where residents of Merida town in Leyte Province found the body of the missing fisherman, who went missing after their boat capsized off Merida town as he and 2 others headed to Cebu on Monday, Octber 21, from Ormoc City. | Contributed photo via Futch Anthony Inso
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami) left one fatality in Cebu where it brought strong wind and occasional rains.
The victim was identified as 70-year-old Rodulfo Villar, the fisherman who went missing since Tuesday, October 22, after the boat he and two other companions used to sail from Leyte to Pilar in Camotes Island capsized due to rough seas.
The Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) confirmed that Villar’s body had been found on the shores of Merida town in Leyte on Wednesday, October 23.
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It can be recalled that Villar, along with two other fisherfolks namely Jessie Kwako Añasco, 31, and Junrex Lanugan, 19, sailed to Pilar from Leyte to visit some relatives.
However, they experienced engine malfunction shortly before they reached their destination in Camotes, located roughly 40 kilometers northeast of Cebu City.
Huge waves also pummeled their pump boat as it started to rain, causing it to capsize at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
Añasco and Lanugan were rescued shortly after.
In the meantime, the three fishermen from Daanbantayan town, northern Cebu who went missing had been found. They were rescued in Biasong, San Isidro town in Leyte.
“They are already safe now,” said Wilson Ramos, information officer at the PDRRMO.
It can be recalled that last Wednesday, October 23, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) hoisted storm signal no. 1 in central and northern Cebu due to effects of Kristine.
The strong wind, reaching up to 60 kilometers per hour (kph), have also damaged several buildings and properties in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue.
As of 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 24, only the islands of Bantayan remained under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 (TCWS) in Cebu.
Kristine was last spotted hovering over the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), packing wind with strengths of up to 95 kilometers per hour (kph), and gustiness reaching 160 kph.
It is moving in a west southwestward direction at a speed of 20 kph, said the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in its latest severe weather bulletin.
While Kristine is moving away from the Luzon landmass, and storm signals have been lifted in most parts of Cebu, Pagasa warned that strong to storm-force winds are expected in areas within 730 kilometers from the eye of the storm.