Emergency responders had promptly rescued 22 people together in a small speedboat that capsized a few miles off Zamboanga City on Friday morning, July 19, 2024, while on their way to an island barangay for an official activity.
Officials of the Police Regional Office-9 told reporters at past noontime Friday that 16 of the 22 individuals riding the ill-fated speedboat are employees of the city government, out to inspect community projects in Barangay Tumalutap as part of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) evaluation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The Zamboanga City government had reportedly been nominated for the 2024 SGLG award from the DILG’s central office.
Among the 22 rescued speedboat passengers are Police Major Rolando Arriola, Jr. and his subordinate, Master Sgt. Reagan Gregorio.
All five speedboat crew members were also rescued by combined personnel of a seaborne unit of PRO-9, barangay officials and members of a Philippine Coast Guard unit in Zamboanga City.
Radio reports here and in Zamboanga City stated that one of the two engines of the overloaded speedboat malfunctioned and stopped running, causing the watercraft to slow down and eventually sink after having been battered by big waves.
The rescued speedboat passengers were immediately brought to the seaside base of the police’s 2nd Mobile Force Seaborne Company of PRO-9 for examination by medics. (JFU, JULY 19, 2024)
