Six persons were confirmed dead, while three others are still missing after a motorized banca capsized amid stormy weather on Lake Mapanuepe at Barangay Buhawen here on Thursday, August 27.
The Zambales Provincial Police Office (ZPPO) said the fatalities were three Aeta adults and three children who were among the 13 passengers aboard the banca. Four others in the group survived.
The accident reportedly occurred while the group was heading for home at Sitio Lumibao in Buhawen after attending a 4Ps meeting and getting vaccine shots at the Buhawen Barangay Center. The ZPPO said authorities mounted a search, rescue and retrieval operation with a composite team from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and the San Marcelino Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) following a call for help from Buhawen Barangay Chairman Eduardo Dueñas.
However, after six bodies were retrieved, rescue and recovery efforts were temporarily discontinued at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday due to inclement weather, the ZPPO added.
The search for the missing residents resumed early Friday, August 28, with a team from the Philippine Red Cross in Olongapo City and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s Fire and Rescue Team combing the area near the sunken Saint Barbara Chapel, a remnant of the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991.
Still, heavy rains from previous days made the lake water murky and prevented deep-water search maneuvers, rescuers said.
Meanwhile, the ZPPO also said the motorboat operator has been detained at the San Marcelino Police Station for possible filing of charges for reckless imprudence, as authorities believed the banca was overloaded when it sank.
Lake Mapanuepe, which has become a popularly known as the ‘New Zealand of Zambales’ because of its surrounding open grassland and mountain backdrop, also had a tragic history.
Continuous lahar flow after the 1991 volcanic eruption dammed the exit point of the Mapanuepe River on the valley and formed the lake, submerging in the process the low-lying area of Buhawen where most of the houses and community facilities of the former mining community were located.
Today, the chapel steeple with a large metal cross mounted atop it is the only visible sign that a community once thrived under the lake’s surface.