2 of 9 missing crew members of sunken F/V St. Peter the Fisherman II found dead

Remains of two of the nine missing crew members of a fishing vessel from Cadiz City that sank off the coast of Iloilo province Friday morning were retrieved by search and rescue operatives.

Coast Guard authorities identified the two bodies as those of Norberto Parlotzo, a resident of Bantayan Island, Cebu; and Rommel Engle, a resident of Cadiz.

Still missing are Boat Captain Frankie Chavez, a native of Toboso; Renante Forsuelo, Victor Calvo, Manuel Auditor and Julian Dungog also of Cadiz; Herminio Ronam, a resident of Estancia, Iloilo; and Julit Salvo, a resident of Don Salvador Benedicto.

Captain Ludovico Librilla, Coast Guard Western Visayas District (CGWVD) deputy commander and Coast Guard Station-Negros Occidental commander, said that initial investigations and survivors’ accounts revealed that the fishing boat – owned by Tristar Fishing Corporation – was between the waters of Gigantes Island, Iloilo and Tanguingui Island, Cebu when battered by strong winds and big waves.

The vessel later listed and subsequently capsized.

The 22 among its crew managed to get off the vessel and were later rescued by other fishing vessels in the vicinity.

The surviving crew members were then brought back through the Cadiz City Commercial Port.

Librilla said they immediately deployed the Coast Guard’s BRP Nueva Vizcaya to the area to conduct search and rescue operations. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) also deployed its air assets to help in the search.

Last night (Sept. 25), a team of divers hired by one of the families of the missing crew recovered Parlotzo and Engle’s remains.
Engle’s remains arrived in Cadiz at 11:00 p.m.

A dive team of the PCG’s Special Operations Unit led by CGWVD Chief of Staff, Commander Jansen Benjamin are still checking the wreck some 44 meters at sea.

An investigation team from the PCG’s Central Office is expected to interview the survivors and conduct further investigation into the sinking.*