PCG rescues 19 Taiwanese, Chinese in Boracay
BORACAY ISLAND — Nineteen Chinese and Taiwanese tourists were rescued by the operatives of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) near the Crystal Cove in southeastern part of this resort island Sunday.
Lieutenant Senior Grade Godofredo Vagilidad, commander of the PCG-Aklan, said they rescued the tourists on board the Edilyn-1 Banca around 1 pm after receiving reports from the Boracay Island Hopping Association (BIHA) that the motor banca was in an imminent danger.
“When we went there, we saw the banca already half-submerged in water. All the tourists are now safe,” said Vagilidad.
Vagilidad said that they are now investigating the operator of the banca since the weather is fine when the incident had occurred.
“We suspect that the boat operator might have committed some technical lapses. We urged them to file a marine protest on the said incident. In this way, we could be able to hold an official investigation of the incident,” he added.
Two weeks ago, 21 Chinese tourists were also rescued by the Coast Guard in the same area when the motor banca they were onboard was drifted for three hours after it developed technical problem amid the inclement weather. (PNA)