I love beaches but I dread riding any form of water transportation. I would rather take the Bacolod-Manila-Iloilo trip for a minimum of four hours amidst the high cost of airfare than ride the one hour direct boat trip from Bacolod to Iloilo.
I don’t know when this fear started, all I can recall is one dreadful experience I had after our wedding in 2005. Noy, Bebe (my youngest sister) and I went to Bacolod for our “island hopping” honeymoon. It was a day after Christmas day and a week after the unwelcomed visit of typhoon “Seniang” to our wedding day. The waves were still strong and heavy while the sea looks very angry. In the middle of our trip, I saw smoke coming from the back of our boat. I almost screamed with nervousness but I calmed myself, held my sister’s hands and told her to have her life vest near her. I did not worry about Noy because I know he is a good swimmer. I told him not to worry about me and help my sister because she does not know how to swim. The boat stopped, white smoke enveloped the whole boat but we stayed calm and waited for the captain’s advice. Soon we heard a coughing sound of the boat’s engine and it started again. As we proceed, the smoke goes out of the boat until we reached Bacolod.
I would always tell my friends that I don’t want to die inside a boat because I don’t want to endure the gradual death of drowning. Just imagine the panic, fear, and gradual loss of breathing. I don’t want to be killed softly. I want to die instantly! But kidding and paranoia aside, I don’t want to die drowning.
I once drowned in Puerto Galera during our office outing. Good thing my officemates were quick and saved me. M But, that caused me years of staying on the shore making sand castles. It was only in 2004 that I decided to conquer my fear, enroll in a swimming lesson and swam again.
After hearing what happened to Princess of the Star, my fear was heightened because Noy, Elle and I are taking the one-hour boat ride from Bacolod to Iloilo to visit my parents just after Typhoon Frank exits the Philippines. I almost told Noy to skip our Iloilo trip and go back to Manila directly from Bacolod but I missed my family in Iloilo. So I told myself that I should serve as a role model to Elle. Elle loves water and I should not give her any hint that I am afraid of drowning or else, she will end up fearing the water too. As soon as we are inside the Weesam 3, I looked for our life vest. Mine was just under my seat but I could not find one for Elle. I asked a crew for a life vest for infants, which is usually automatically given inside airplanes. The crew went and came back with a guy in a complete white uniform. The guy in a complete white uniform told me that it is their policy not to give out life vest when there is no emergency. I argued that I need the life vest for my daughter because I would not know when emergency would strike! I even told him that I will inform the Philippine Coast Guard about this incident because it is my daughter’s right to be secured and their responsibility to ensure our security. He just looked at me and went away. I was not able to get that person’s name as I was in the window side carrying Elle but I can perfectly identify him in a line-up. I will never forget his face because I almost begged for him to give me a life vest for Elle but he just ignored me. To set the facts straight, we took the 11:20 trip because the 9:30 trip got cancelled.
I just hope that somebody from Weesam or the Philippine Coast Guard can read this and do something about it.
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