Members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Palawan and the Philippine National Police (PNP) still have no leads on the whereabouts of the two Japanese nationals and their boatman who have been missing in Coron, Palawan, since Tuesday afternoon.
LTJG Lonie Zamora, PCG Palawan spokesperson, said the agency has been constantly coordinating with the local government and other agencies to locate the missing tourists identified as Itani Masaru, 59, and Arai Yoshihiro, 24.
Zamora said the tourists rented the boat of a certain Dondon Suangco to go island-hopping last May 30 at around 11:00 a.m. but failed to return.
“Nahihirapan kami maghanap sa kanila kasi hindi sila nakipag-coordinate sa amin (Coast Guard) kung saan ang destination nila,” Zamora said in a phone interview.
(They’re having a hard time finding them because they did not coordinate with the Coast Guard about their destination.)
The two were staying at GMG HOTEL located in Coron’s Barangay 2 when the incident happened.
GMG hotel staff Ning Perez reported the incident to the Coron Municipal Police Station on May 31 at about 3:00pm.
The search and rescue operation is still ongoing to locate the missing Japanese nationals and their boatman, Zamora said.
Story: ABS-CBN News
