A man who set out to sea in a styrofoam box recently was rescued off Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental, where strong ocean currents carried him from Cebu, his intended destination.

The man, identified as Reynaldo Roque, 31, married, of San Isidro, Leyte, appeared not to be in his right state of mind when interviewed by police investigators, SPO4 Joel Alcala, deputy police chief of Dauin said.

Alcala said Bantay Dagat personnel in Apo Island who found him adrift in the styrofoam box, brought him ashore, and turned him over to the police in Apo Island, who, in turn, brought him to the Dauin police station.

Roque was mostly incoherent during police investigation, but Alcala said he revealed that he had been wandering around Dumaguete for a while, sleeping at parks and scrounging for food to survive. He further claimed that sometimes he would go for days without food.

He claimed he wanted to go to Cebu, where he has a cousin, to seek employment but that he did not have fare money.

After being processed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Dauin, Roque was given P500 as pocket money and on Tuesday, was accompanied by Dauin police to the Sibulan wharf where he took the ferry across to Liloan in Cebu, Alcala said.*JFP

back to top