ANTIQUE – A fisherman from Barangay Maybato North, San Jose de Buenavista town has safely returned home after drifting at sea for days and being stranded on an island for nearly a week following a fuel shortage and the onslaught of successive storms.
Danilo Cabataña, 47, left his home around 6 p.m. on July 5 to go fishing. He had not anticipated that the weather would worsen or that he would run out of fuel while at sea.
According to Cabataña, his fishing boat was carried by strong currents and waves, eventually reaching the waters near Palawan. He later drifted toward Batbatan Island in Culasi, Antique, where he stayed for five days.
“Ara man may bagyo nga napaabot garing hambal nakun layo pa. Mga lima pa man ka adlaw mung. Mga alas-sais sa gab-e, naka-abot [ako] sa pulo mga alas-syete sa gab-e man. Ako lang isa. Naubusan ako ka krudo amo to nga nagpa-anod lang ako para kadungka lang sa binit,” Cabataña recounted.
His wife, Fely Cabataña, said they had lost contact with Danilo for more than 20 days. It was only through the help of Batbatan Island officials that his family learned he was alive and safe.
On July 29, Danilo finally returned home in stable condition. Fely expressed her deep gratitude to Sangguniang Bayan (SB) member RG Gayatin and Antique’s Gov. Paolo Javier for their assistance.
“Bahol-bahol gid ang pasalamat ko kay SB Gayatin kay grabe gid ana rugto nga pagkontak sa kapitan kang Batbatan nga buligan gid tana kamayad kag pakan-on gid tana. Duro man nga salamat kay Gov. Paolo hay man-an ko to nga si gov to ang nagbulig man nagpadara didto ka barakal ka krudo kang akon nga bana para makabalik tana rugya,” Fely said.
On July 30, the couple received food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office. They are also expected to receive additional support under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program from the provincial government./PN
