Ferry sinks in Philippines

MV Princess of the Stars sunk last Sunday, June 22, 2008, in Sibuyan Sea. The passenger ferry was loaded with more than 800 passengers and crews and until now divers are still looking for survivors and missing persons.

The ferry capsized because it could no longer endure Typhoon Fengshen's wrath(locally named as Typhoon Frank). Due to heavy winds and rain, the ship could no longer hold against its force and I think the captain ordered his passengers to wear lifejackets as the survivors who were found were already wearing them. Then, the captain decided to dock in the nearest island to seek refuge but the ferry capsized immediately leaving no time for other passengers to jump outside the ship or for her to dock in the nearby Sibuyan Island.

The ferry left Manila for Cebu and was given an approval by the Coast Guard as it was only Signal No. 1 in Manila and PagAsa predicted that the typhoon will move to Bicol. Sad to say, the typhoon changed its path and went to Romblon area where the ferry was at that time.

Sulpicio Lines admitted that 860 were on board as the ferry capsized: "There were 751 manifested passengers and 111 crew members on board the capsized vessel." The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) suspended all sea travel operations of the Sulpicio. Sulpicio lines released the names of 32 survivors with the complete passenger manifest and crew list uploaded on their website.

In a country with 7,100 islands, it has been a common form of transportation for the Filipinos to travel by sea. This really scared a lot of people, even me, and I hope that these calamities will be lessened in the future or much better if we will no longer have to experience this grieving occurrence.

God bless to those who lost their mother, their father, their sisters, their brothers, sons, daughters, relatives, friends, and colleagues.

Let's pray for those who died and hope for those who survived.


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Independence Day!!!

June 12 is Philippines Independence Day!!!

This is 110th Indepedence Anniversary of Philippines after we gained freedom from Spain only to be captured by US! How's that?

Yes, we were under superpowers before, Spain, US, and Japan, but we considered this day as the day when we got our freedom after 300 years of Spanish control.

I hope that we can experience the freedom that we want today.

1. Freedom from Meralco's high electric bills
2. Freedom from Abu Sayyaf
4. Freedom to Ces Oreña Drillon and company
4. Freedom from corrupt government officials (asa pa?)

Do you still remember the Php5 bill?

Sabi ko nga sa sarili ko "I may lose all my money but I will never trade my freedom".