Myanmar nationals stranded in Zambales long to go home

STILL HERE The seven Myanmar nationals aboard a fishing boat that got stranded in San Antonio, Zambales, on Sept. 9 are still staying in Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) station in Subic, Zambales. —Photos from PCG Zambales

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES, Philippines — There is no place like home.

This is the wish of the seven Myanmar nationals rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) from a foreign vessel that ran aground in Silanguin Cove in this coastal town in September and have been stranded here for three months.

Soe San Naing, 33, the boat’s skipper, expressed his longing to return to Myanmar in an interview on Sunday.

While he acknowledged that the PCG personnel in Zambales were treating them well, he said they deeply missed their families and wished to go home.

READ: Myanmar vessel runs aground in Zambales

Cmdr. Euphraim Jayson Diciano, chief of PCG Zambales, said they sought assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Nov. 8 to facilitate the crew’s repatriation but the DFA has yet to respond.

According to Diciano, there is no hindrance to repatriating the seven Myanmar people since they have not violated any Philippine law.

“No case has been filed against them, so it’s better to turn them over to the DFA to process their return home,” said Diciano in a separate interview.

Struggling

He added, “Christmas is just a few days away, and it would be best for them to reunite with their families.”

Diciano said they were “also struggling because we’ve been shouldering their expenses for several months.”

Since their vessel, Aung Naing Thu, ran aground on Sept. 9, Naing and his crew—most of whom are minors—were being provided by the PCG with clothing, food, and other necessities while an investigation into the incident continues.

STUCK Aung Naing Thu, a vessel that ran aground in Silanguin in San Antonio, Zambales, last September, remains stuck in the cove.

The foreigners were visited by representatives from the Myanmar Embassy on Sept. 20, the PCG said.

According to Diciano, the vessel, a wooden-hulled fishing boat reportedly converted into a ferry operating between Thailand and Myanmar, remains stranded in Silanguin Cove.

Based on the statements of the crew, the vessel’s owner, a Myanmar national residing in Ranong province in Thailand, hired them to get the vessel from Surat Thani province in Thailand to bring to Ranong, which required them to cross some borders, such as Malaysia and the Singapore Strait.

Diciano said the boat had not left Thailand waters yet when it developed an engine problem on Aug. 25, and because the waves were strong at that time, the boat just floated in the sea for 14 days until it reached Silanguin Cove, where it ran aground on Sept. 9.