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By Marian Jean F. Benetua, Researcher
“Lord, will I die at sea?”
Jose Mari Garbo recalled muttering these words
as he was left stranded in a raft in the middle of the sea, along
with 27 other survivors from the sinking of MV Princess of the
Stars.
They were among the 57 survivors found as of
Tuesday. Some 850 were aboard the ferry when it capsized Saturday.
“The wind blew really hard, and the waves were
huge,” Garbo said during an interview with The Manila Times at the
Philippine National Red Cross center in Manila on Tuesday.
Thirty survivors were originally on the raft,
with some of them hanging from the sides. Those who had clung to the
raft tied themselves with a rope that was held by someone in the
raft so those outside would not be swept away by the waves.
Garbo, 23, was the first to climb up the raft,
just right after the ship capsized.
It was like that of the Titanic, he described
the sinking of Princess of the Stars. The thought came to him when
he held on to the railings as the ship listed. Others slid and
others jumped, but he decided he would wait and cling to anything
until the ship was eaten up by the water.
Garbo said he let go of the railings after the
ship capsized and was then able to find the raft. “I was already
on this small boat [raft] when I turned and saw other rafts.”
He said he was able to climb up one of the
rafts, the one that the 29 other survivors had also chanced upon.
Garbo added that they seemed to have picked the “right” raft
because the other rafts were being tossed any which way by the big
waves until all 30 survivors lost sight of them.
“After I was able to help others get on the
raft, I told them to help others to get on too. I was really tired,
and I just wanted to rest,” Garbo said.
Cheerleader aboard
Francisco Batula, 42, was also among the men in
the raft. He was fondly called the “cheerleader” of the group,
as he was the one who motivated them to give their all to overcome
their fears.
“Others were already losing hope, and I told
them that we had to stay positive, fight and keep our families in
our mind,” Batula said.
The survivors already sighted what they thought
was the island of Quezon, when the winds blew more violently and the
huge waves tossed them to the sides, causing the raft to overturn.
“After our boat turned over, we realized that
we were on the shallow part of the sea, so we decided to swim,”
Francisco said.
They swam about 100 to 200 meters to the island,
according to him. “The men swam and the three women who were with
us clung to the capsized raft.”
Finally, around 8 a.m. of Monday, the group
reached Ibabang Yuni barangay (village) in Malunay, Quezon.
They had expected that all 30 of them who had
been on the raft would make it to shore. But two of them did not.
Only 28 of them stepped on dry land. They had been at sea, and in
grave danger, for more than two days.
Once taken in, the survivors were given help, as
the villagers gave them clothes, slippers and food.
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, the 28 survivors were taken
to the Philippine National Red Cross center in Manila, where some of
their relatives waited. Some of the survivors had already left after
being fetched by their relatives, while others refused to be
interviewed.
Prayers answered
Francisco’s wife, Cecille, 43, came along with
two of their four children to see her husband. Previously, she had
contacted two media networks to search for him.
“When they told me he was alive, I wouldn’t
believe it. I really wanted to see that he was alive,” Cecille, in
tears, said.
Francisco was on his way to Cebu to work as a
contractor there, after a year of unemployment. His wife says he
would no longer go to Cebu and they would continue with their
livelihood of selling newspapers.
Jose Mari Garbo just got married on March 31 and
was going to Cebu to stay with his family there until he leaves for
work as a seaman in July.
He said he thought he would never see his wife
and child again. “My wife and loved ones had gone to Mass praying
for me, while I was in danger. Now, when I get back, it [hear Mass]
will be the first thing I will do.”
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