By Jennifer P. Rendon
A fisherman from Bantayan Island, Cebu was found dead hours after he accidentally plunged into the waters of Estancia, Iloilo.
The body of 45-year-old Leo Mata was fished out near Estancia Feeder Port at Poblacion Zone 2 morning of Jan 15, 2022.
Lieutenant Joebert Amado, Estancia police chief, said Mata was drunk when he accidentally lost balance while on board a banca around 8 p.m. evening of Jan 14, according to the statements of his companions.
Earlier that day, the victim and his fellow fishermen went out for drinks while their fishing vessel was on anchorage.
They then boarded a banca on their way back to their anchored vessel.
Amado said there were five of them on the small banca with outriggers.
Mata’s companions claimed huge waves slammed their boat causing it to sway. This led to Mata to lose his balance and fell off the banca.
His companions claimed they dove into the water to rescue Mata but to no avail.
They claimed they had a hard time looking for the victim because of the strong water current.
But Amado noted that Mata’s companions did not report the incident to the police or to the nearest Coast Guard station.
Instead, they claimed to conducting their own search operation until they retrieved the victim’s body around 6:30 a.m. the following day.
Amado said they found no superficial injuries on the victim’s body.
But he claimed investigation is still being done to ascertain the veracity of the statement of Mata’s companions.
