Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

SIBUYAN ISLAND, ROMBLON - Around four months after a double whammy struck and this island was declared to be in a state of calamity, residents are still waiting for promises of assistance.

Scores of islanders remain in evacuation centers following the devastating onslaught of Typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen) on that fateful June 21st.

The typhoon sank the MV Princess of the Stars and today, divers are still trying to retrieve hundreds of bodies believed trapped inside the capsized ferry just off the shore. Only 56 of the 864 people aboard survived the disaster.

Margie Recto, a resident of Campalingo village, said the government and the ferry owner, Sulpicio Lines Inc., had promised to compensate the fishermen P150-P200 a day during the fishing ban imposed by the Department of Health in Sibuyan waters.

The province-wide ban, imposed on June 27 after it was learned that there were containers of toxic chemicals in the ship’s cargo hold, was lifted in early July. The chemicals were subsequently removed, but fishing was still prohibited within five kilometers of the shipwreck until early this month.

Where is the money?

“There was really nothing. They promised to pay P200 initially, but they reduced it to P150. We submitted our applications but until now, there is nothing,” Recto said.

Recto, who has 11 children, said her husband was a fisherman whose income from the sea augmented her small salary as a staffer at Romblon State College–San Fernando.

She said she used the income from the sale of her husband’s catch for the children’s daily needs. With that income gone, she has found it extremely difficult to make ends meet.

“It was a really big help. My salary from the school is only P8,000 and most of it is used to pay for loans,” she said.

The fishing ban has wrought such havoc on the economy that school attendance has dropped because the fishing families cannot afford to send their children to school anymore.

Although the ban has been lifted, there is still no respite.

Mariles Trada, who lives on the coast of Poblacion, San Fernando, said her neighbors had started going back to sea but the sale of their catch has been low.

“A lot of people are still not buying fish. They said they won’t eat the fish here until the ship is gone,” she said.

San Fernando residents said they would only eat seafood from their waters after the ship, with its dead passengers, has left their shore.