A Special Boat team from the Philippine Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) based in Sangley Point, Cavite City rescued three fishermen whose boat capsized early before dawn in Manila Bay due to the battering waves caused by the fierce winds of typhoon Glenda on July 16, 2014.
As the winds began to calm down near midday, Navy Sailors began scouring the shorelines in Cavite City when Seaman First Julius Garcia, the one who first spotted what seemed to be like hands waving for help about 500 yards away from the shore, immediately alerted the NAVSOG team to respond.
Less than five minutes later, the Sailors launched an Eight-Meter Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat to rescue the fishermen. Navy Hospitalman Third Class Gil Biapot who was among the first to reach the survivors threw over lifejackets and brought them to safety.
“One of them was found clinging on an LPG tank which was part the capsized boat, while the other two took turns to cling on a rubberized buoy,” he said.
“They were found nearly naked, shivering in cold and they seemed to be in hypothermic stage for several hours already,” Biapot said.
The survivors are all residents of Amaia in Tanza, Cavite.
Navy divers are searching for the other three fishermen who are still missing. Biapot said there is so much floating debris making it difficult for them to maneuver avoiding being punctured by sharp bamboo shoots.
The fishermen are currently recuperating at the Sickbay of the Philippine Fleet where they are being treated for hypothermia and for sustaining minor abrasions.