Saturday, May 26, 2012

Pinoy Fishermen Snatched by China Military Boat

Two fishermen from Bolinao, Pangasinan were reported missing after they failed to return home from a fishing expedition in the West Philippine Sea as of Friday.

They were identified as Rodolfo Molina, 26, and Jinggoy Paltep, 24, both of Barangay Balingasay, Bolinao.

A report said the two were with several other fishermen on board a mother boat that departed from Barangay Balingasay, Bolinao on May 21 on a fishing expedition in the West Philippine Sea.

Their companions said that while in mid-sea, some 50 to 60 nautical miles away from Bolinao and still within the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines, they boarded a small motorboat, colored white and blue, launched from the mother boat in order to catch fish.

However, many hours had passed and the two still failed to return to the mother boat.

Merly Gabatin Molina, mother of Rodolfo, went to the Bolinao police station at 4:30 a.m. Friday to report that her son and companion were not among the fishermen from the mother boat that had come back from the fishing expedition.

The incident was reported to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) in Lingayen and to the regional office of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in San Fernando City, La Union.