Parents blame PCG, shipping firm for son’s death in sea accident
SAMAL, Bataan: Parents of a school teacher here on Tuesday blamed the Philippine Coast Guard and the shipping firm for his death among 30 others in the Iloilo – Guimaras sea tragedy last Saturday.
(I am appealing to President Duterte, the senators, the Vice President, that if possible, this system should not be repeated. The coast guard and the owners of the boat didn’t know what they were doing. A lot of lives were lost because of their negligence.)
Andrew’s mother, Corazon Valenzuela, 62, called on those concerned.
“Sa kinauukulan sa pangyayaring hindi dapat nadisgrasya ang anak ko, panagutan ninyo pangyayari. Alam ninyo na hindi maganda panahon, may dalawang bangka nang nadisgrasya, bakit pinatuloy pa ninyo vessel na sinasakyan ng anak ko sampu ng kanyang mga kasama,” she said.
(Why didn’t they give my son the boat that he was originally scheduled to ride. He and his companions should have taken a bigger boat, as what had been agreed and paid for, but what was given was a smaller boat.)
She said the contract called for 10 bancas to guide the boat of Andrew’s group.
The mother said Andrew arrived in Bataan from Abu Dhabi last July 7 and left for Cebu, Bohol and Iloilo on July 29. He was supposed to leave for UAE on August 20, 2019.
She recalled how happy they were days before Andrew left for Iloilo. “Nagbonding-bonding kaming pamilya. Magkakasama kami, tuwang-tuwa si Andrew,” the mother said.
(Our family bonded. We were together. Andrew was happy.)
“Sa aking anak, hindi ko akalain na yon na huli nating pagkikita, na hindi ko inaasahan na ganoon magiging tadhana mo, na hindi ka babalik sa amin ng buhay ka. Sana kung tadhana na talaga na kinuha ka sa amin ng Panginoong Maykapal, maging maligaya ka saan ka man naroroon,” Corazon tearfully told her son.
She said her son was so good and hoped that he would act as angel to ask God for the family’s safety.
“Salamat anak sa lahat ng pinagsamahan nating masasaya, malulungkot na kaagapay ka namin sa lahat ng bagay. Napakabait mo anak,” the woman said.
(On the night of July 28, he put socks on my feet. He really took care of me.)
He said that after his son left, he often sent messages and called Andy (how he called his son) many times asking him to be careful.
The father said on Saturday, the day of the accident, he also kept on calling his son but the phone just kept on ringing only to learn in the afternoon that Andy was already gone.
Andrew had built a big house for his parents but still unfinished. He promised to send additional fund when he returned to UAE.
His remains arrived in the airport at 2 p.m. of Tuesday and wpild be brought to Bataan at 6 in the evening.