Joint search-and-rescue teams of the Philippine Navy and the United States Navy have rescued four Filipino fishermen who were reported missing for 20 days after their boat was swept by strong waves and set adrift on the high seas off the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
Reports reaching the Philippine Navy Headquarters on Roxas Blvd., Manila, identified the rescued fishermen as Pedro Isidro, 49; Zaldy Papatani, 23; Ronald Mercado, 25; and Jimmy Francis, 27, all residents of Subic, Zambales.
Capt Geronimo Malabanan, Philippine Navy spokesman, said the four fishermen lost a lot of weight and looked very haggard when rescued by US and Philippine search-and-rescue units.
They were immediately taken to a nearby hospital for checkup.
Malabanan said the four were on board their fishing boat which was spotted by a US rescue aircraft, a P-3 Orion, off Ulugan Bay in Palawan near the disputed Spratly Islands.
Navy reports stated that search-and-rescue teams were immediately deployed after they received distress calls transmitted by the four through radio transceivers last March 22.
Malabanan recalled that. Navy authorities got at least two distress calls from the four before they lost contact when their radio battery lost power.
The four fishermen last told Navy authorities that they were swept by strong waves 48 nautical miles off the southern tip of Ulugan, Palawan.
The P-3 Orion search- and- rescue aircraft with US Navy men on board took off from Okinawa, Japan, to join the search for the four Filipinos.
Navy authorities also said that the four left Subic to go fishing last March 22. (Aris R. Ilagan)
