Hundreds Missing In Aftermath Of Typhoon

MANILA, Philippines (AP) _ Ritchie Tayongtong's husband refused to let her give up when she fell and hit a railing as the ferry lurched to one side in the howling typhoon. He coached her not to panic and gave the order to jump as the sea rose up to swallow them.

But when she was pulled aboard a life raft, the man she called ``Love'' was nowhere to be seen, becoming one of the 800 people missing since the vessel capsized Saturday during the height of a storm that left 163 people dead in flooded communities in the central Philippines.

The government declared a state of calamity in three entire provinces _ Albay, Antique and Iloilo _ along with three towns in two other provinces.

Hopes were rapidly fading Monday for more ferry survivors as powerful waves limited rescue efforts to planning strategy for the best way to get inside if the weather clears Wednesday.

Divers heard no response Sunday when they hammered on the tip of the 23,824-ton Princess of Stars that was still jutting from the water off Sibuyan island in the central Philippines, but officials refused to give up.

``We're not ruling out that somebody there is still alive,'' coast guard chief Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo said. ``You can never tell.''

Officials were pinning their hopes on two teams of military divers being able to find an underwater opening Tuesday.

``We'll do this at the earliest opportunity, weather permitting,'' Tamayo said.

Experts also were studying the ferry's layout in case they have to drill an access hole, a prospect complicated by a cargo of bunker oil on the ferry that quickly could turn the human disaster into an environmental one if it starts leaking.

A U.S. Navy ship carrying search-and-rescue helicopters was expected to arrive from Okinawa late Monday, and a P-3 maritime surveillance plane also was being dispatched.

Only 38 wave-battered survivors from the ferry have been found so far, including 28 who drifted at sea for more than 24 hours, first in a life raft, then in life jackets, before they were found Sunday about 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the north in Mulanay township, in eastern Quezon province.

But bodies were washing up on shore to the west and northwest, too. The coast guard said it was checking a survivor's report that at least one group of people _ some dead, some alive _ had been spotted bobbing in the sea.

Tayongtong, a former school teacher, married seaman Ephraim Tayongtong Jr. in 2000. With no children, her 36-year-old husband was heading to South Korea next month for a job, and the couple had been going home to Cebu after he submitted the necessary work documents in Manila.

``We sensed there was trouble around lunchtime,'' she said. ``The ship was bobbing left and right sharply. One time, it was not able to recover and the ship listed to the left side and did not bounce back. My husband knew what to do... he told me we should go to the emergency exit.

From the room they shared with other people on the top, seventh level, they donned life jackets and rushed up to the sun deck, where many people already had gathered.

``I slipped and fell to the ground and hit the railings because the ship was listing,'' she said, her face bruised from the fall. ``I yelled at my husband to go ahead and leave me, but he crawled back and pleaded that I should not lose hope. He told me not to panic because he was there and he would take care of me.

``The ship then was listing very sharply and we had to hold onto the railings. When the sea was almost upon us, he yelled, 'Jump, jump!' and we jumped together, but I got under water and many were tugging at me, pulling me under water. When I surfaced later, my husband was nowhere to be found.

``When they helped me up into the life raft, I wept. I yelled `Love! Love! Love!' but there was no reply, nothing. The others on the raft asked me just to pray so he'll survive.''

Officials initially reported 747 passengers and crew were aboard the ferry, but said Monday that it was carrying about 100 more. Capacity was listed as 1,992 people.

While some relatives tearfully waited for news, others angrily questioned why the ship was allowed to leave Manila late Friday for a 20-hour trip to Cebu with a typhoon approaching. The government ordered Sulpicio Lines to suspend services pending an investigation into the accident and a check of its other ships' seaworthiness.

Debate also began anew on safe-sailing rules in a country prone to storms _ Fengshen was the seventh typhoon this year _ and dependent on ferries to get around the sprawling archipelago.

Though President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said the ferry never should have left, Sulpicio Lines said it sailed with Coast Guard approval. The company said it will give 200,000 pesos (US$4,500) in compensation to relatives of each person who died, along with financial assistance to the survivors.

The Philippines was the scene of the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster when the ferry Dona Paz sank in 1987, killing more than 4,341 people.