Tragedy struck a dragon boat team training for an international competition when their boat capsized off the island of Boracay yesterday, killing seven, three of them women.
The Philippine Coast Guard confirmed the seven deaths, but withheld their identities.
A report released by the Office of the Municipal Mayor of Malay said all the victims were not wearing life vests at the time of the accident and that one of the victim does not know how to swim.
Capt. Armand Balilo, Coast Guard spokesperson, confirmed that no one from the team wore life vest, clarifying that dragon boat training is not covered by the agency’s regulation on wearing life vests.
“Yung passenger boats lang ‘yung covered lalo na ‘yung mga dragon boats usually mga strong swimmers ‘yan. Wala pa akong nakikita na dragon boat na naka-vest saka sa gilid-gilid lang sila. Talagang mga kasama sa practice ‘yan kapag may pinaghahandaan,” Balilo explained.
Balilo said dragon boat teams are not required to secure permit when conducting a training.
“Nagsasabi lang ‘yan sa Coast Guard na nakamonitor na may dragon boat activities. Normal routine ‘yan doon,” Balilo stressed.
The mayor’s office identified the fatalities as Johann Tan, John Vince Natividad, Mark Vincent Navarrete, Comar Arcob, Maricel Tan, Richel Montoya, and Rose Antonette Supranes. All did not reach the hospital alive.
The survivors are Von Navarosa, the team’s founder; Mark Baccay, Jaylord Violanda, Edwin Paradai, Marc Sabado, Kenneth Bandalan, Jao Buenaventura, Robel Licerio, Kathleen Sabado, Julia Kurbantizova, Maggie Xie, Yhen Aytona, Lanie Ordas, and Janice Lumbo.
The victims are members of the 21-man Boracay Dragon Force training for the 2019 Kaohsiung City Cup international dragon boat championship set Nov. 8-10 in Taiwan.
According to the team manager whose identity was not provided by the mayor’s office, the victims assembled at 6:30 a.m. in Bulabog beach area in Barangay Balabalag.
The paddlers boarded the boat at 7:15 a.m. and the sea was calm, according to one of the survivors.
However, after the reef, rough waves gradually filled the boat with water, some 200-300 meters off the Lingganay Resort, Tulubhan in Barangay Manocmanoc, Malay, Aklan.
The boat sank but the paddlers managed to hold on to the boat.
Strong waves and current made the boat roll over, displacing the victims.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF) reiterated its advocacy and priority to safety.
“We encourage the use of personal floatation devices during training and require wearing the same in local regattas to make sure that we avoid incidents that lead to unnecessary loss of life or sustenance of injury. We also educate our member clubs proper safety protocols in case of capsizing or sinking of boats,” the PDBF said in a statement. (Betheena Unite)
