Two days after the tragic sea mishap in the Iloilo Strait, authorities are hopeful that they will still find survivors. Commodore Allan Victor dela Vega, district commander of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Region 6, said they are still hoping that persons listed as missing have survived. “But it’s not conclusive na patay na ang lahat. We’re still hoping. We are in a tropical country posible pa naman may mga survivors na naanod,” dela Vega said. He added that said it is possible that some of the survivors did not bother to report to authorities for accounting amid the search and retrieval operations. “We are just hoping against hope na they are just washed up in different shorelines, unaccounted, already at home, left the area but did not report that they survived because look at our area it is surrounded by islands,” he said in a press conference on Monday.

Santiagudo, E., & Rendon, J. P. (2019, August 6). 'They might be alive': authorities hope to find more sea mishap survivors. Daily Guardian, pp. 1, 14.