Reports from other government agencies said, however, that 72 fishermen were missing, while another report stated that 68 fishermen remained unaccounted for.

The Philippine Navy said 48 fishermen survived when they managed to cling to pieces of wood and swim ashore. The number of survivors might go higher, the Navy said, adding that there could be other fishermen who reached shores, but did not report to the authorities.

Navy spokesman Commander Geronimo Malabanan said a Navy search-and-rescue team recovered yesterday one body, while the Coast Guard retrieved two other bodies.

Malabanan said the Navy rescued 10 fishermen, while other government agencies and private vessels picked up 48 people.

Reports said the fishermen were catching octopus and yellow fin tuna when big waves suddenly hit their boats Saturday night.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Ernesto de Leon directed the Naval Forces North under Commodore Amado Sanglay to field more boats and ships participating in the search-and-rescue operations.

De Leon said four rubber boats, a patrol boat, a ship and a helicopter had earlier been dispatched to look for survivors.

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) sent two helicopters, while the Philippine Coast Guard had several ships helping in the search mission.

Reports said there were some 120 fishermen in the area when giant waves struck their boats.

Some of the boats were identified as mb Roderick, mb Kevin, mb WR, mb Mark Ely, mb Saint Mary and mb JR.

The Coast Guard was still verifying the names of the other boats crushed by waves.

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BANGAR, La Union (Reuters) — Ships and planes scoured the northern Philippine seas on Sunday for dozens of fishermen missing after waves the size of two-story buildings smashed their boats to pieces.

Forty-eight fishermen have been rescued after swimming ashore while clinging desperately to the wreckage of their boats, while at least 67 were still missing two days after gale force winds and giant waves caught them at sea, the coast guard said.

One man drowned.

Officials and survivors said the waves were huge enough to crush some of the 80 outrigger fishing boats estimated to be at sea at the time.

"Wave after wave struck us, as tall as two-store buildings," 47-year-old Alfredo Macayan told Reuters. "I prayed, ‘Lord, save me and my son’."

Macayan said he and his teenaged son hung on tightly to the outrigger of their smashed boat and swam towards shore.

But they lost four companions on two other boats.

"Their boats overturned and my companions sank into the sea. I never saw them again," Macayan said, speaking in dialect.

Tragedies at sea are common in the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands buffeted by 20 typhoons each year, on average.

The disaster took place Friday night in the seas off La Union province, 250 km (155 miles) north of Manila, local officials said, clarifying an earlier Coast Guard report that said it happened early Saturday.

Scores of women in the town of Bangar — home to many of the missing fishermen — wept as they gathered under a mango tree to pray for the return of their menfolk.

"Please help me, my husband and son have not come back," pleaded distraught housewife Marilyn Ramos, who is seven months’ pregnant, when she saw a Reuters television and picture crew.

Nearby, Ramos’ 72year-old mother-in-law had sunk on her knees to the ground, her hands clasped in prayer, her body shaken by sobs.

Boats carrying the old woman’s husband, five sons, and an in-law have not reached shore.

Capt. Eduardo Legazpi, chief of the Coast Guard for Northern Philippines, said 115 men were originally listed as missing. "But we have recovered 48, so we are still looking for 67 more," he added.

Officials said more than 100 fishermen went to sea Friday afternoon to hunt for octopus and yellow fins that abound in the area, but were caught by big waves after nightfall.

"I have trust in our fishermen that they will survive. They are a sturdy people," said Gary Pingzon, the mayor of Bangar.

Last Sunday, two Air Force helicopters and several Coast Guard ships scoured the seas of La Union, assisted by civilian volunteers on outrigger boats.

"Maybe, they were swept farther to sea or to other villages," coast guard Commander Romeo Rivero told Reuters, when asked if the missing fishermen might have drowned.

"It is possible they may have taken shelter somewhere."

(AFP) — Two people were killed, and at least 72 others are missing after scores of small fishing boats encountered strong winds in waters off Northern Philippines, authorities said Sunday.

Over a hundred fishermen, aboard about 70 small fishing boats, ventured out to sea off the northern province of La Union Friday, but ran into strong winds, the civil defense office said.

One body has since been found off Ilocos Norte, farther to the north, it said.

Captain Eduardo Legaspi, a regional Coast Guard official, said in a television interview, that a cargo boat picked up five survivors and one fatality from a capsized boat.

Another 67 fishermen aboard 12 boats, who were originally reported among the missing, have managed to return home, but there was no information on the other vessels, the civil defense office added.

The Coast Guard expressed hopes some of the missing had already reached the shore, but had not yet reported to authorities that they were safe.

Legaspi said the weather had been fair when the fishing boats set out but they were hit by a sudden squall that took them by surprise.

Coast Guard vessels and Air Force planes and helicopters are searching for the missing boats amid hopes the fishermen may have simply taken shelter among the small islets.

Poor coastal communities in the Philippines usually rely on small, wooden fishing boats, many just large enough for two