Four Fishermen Rescued After a Week Missing in West Philippine Sea

Infanta, Pangasinan, four fishermen who had been missing for seven days in the West Philippine Sea were rescued on Thursday in Candelaria town, Zambales. The fishermen, who are from Infanta town, had gone fishing in the area a week prior and failed to return as scheduled.

According to Philippines News Agency, head of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) station in Pangasinan, the rescue operation was facilitated by Candelaria, with assistance from the town’s Mayor Byron Jones Edquilang to safely return the fishermen to Infanta. Details of the fishermen’s ordeal have not been disclosed yet.

The rescued fishermen were identified as Edgar Bejar, 44; Jake Bejar, 19, from Barangay Cato; Melchor Molato, 26, from Barangay Bayambang; and Arnel Awanan, 46, from Barangay Batang, all located in Infanta, Pangasinan.

Corpuz shared that the Philippine Air Force (PAF) conducted an aerial inspection on Wednesday in the last known location of the fishermen, based on the last monitored global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of their motorized boat. However, there was no initial sighting of the fishermen in that area. This led the PCG to coordinate with their national headquarters to dispatch search and rescue vessels and aerial assets for a more extensive search and rescue operation.

The area where the fishermen were last detected based on GPS data is approximately 80 nautical miles, or about 150 kilometers, from the shoreline. The PCG received a report about the missing fishermen last Tuesday from Edgar Bejar’s wife after the group did not return on the expected date, having set sail on November 9. The fishermen’s original plan was to visit their Payao, a fish aggregating device located about 18 nautical miles from the shoreline, to gather fish.