Repatriation set for Pinoys killed in Dutch sea crash

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday, October 11, said repatriation is set for two Filipinos who died in a sea collision off the coast of the Netherlands and Denmark.

The Philippine Embassy in The Hague has informed the victims’ families, DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a text message to Rappler.

Hernandez, however, refused to divulge the names of the victims “to respect the privacy of the family.”

The relatives of a victim on Tuesday, October 8, confirmed he was missing. Relatives of 56-year-old Cebuano seaman Captain Dennis Sabang said he was missing along with another Filipino and Indonesian crew member.

It was Sabang’s birthday when his family received the news.

Sabang was reportedly the last to jump off M/V Maria after it collided with a shipping trawler, which was guarding an oil drilling platform.

The family recounted Sabang instructed them not to text or call him on his birthday, because he would be out at sea. In his last contact with his family, the seaman requested Facebook greetings instead.

His wife, Marichu, said: “It was so sudden. I never expected that it would happen, especially because today is his birthday. My only wish is for him to return.” – Paterno Esmaquel II/Rappler.com