Philippine ferry survivor describes scenes of panic, wait for rescue

This screen grab from video footage taken and received on January 26, 2026 from Governor Mujiv Hataman shows rescuers assisting survivors of the sunken MV Trisha Kerstin 3 at a port in Isabela, Basilan province. [AFP]

As their ferry began listing heavily in the middle of the night off the southern Philippines, passengers instinctively raced to one side in a desperate bid to rebalance the doomed vessel.

Survivor Aquino Sajili told AFP he called a lawyer friend as he stood against the railing of the MV Trisha Kerstin 3, saying he expected it to sink and asking him to alert the Philippine Coast Guard.

"Ten minutes later, I heard a sudden, loud snap," said the 53-year-old attorney from nearby Zamboanga City in Mindanao.

"Then the ship immediately capsized," he said in an interview from his home, describing how panic quickly gripped the passengers.

"The women and children were shouting and crying," he said. "There were many children present there."

A client he had been travelling with to a sharia court hearing was among the 18 dead, Sajili said.

"Many of the casualties were women of old age. The ship was so big that when you are covered by it, you need strength to push yourself above water," he said.

'No alert from crew'

Sajili said he was awoken by a fellow passenger as the triple-decker ferry began to tilt precariously.

"He alerted us and gave us life jackets. No one from the crew alerted us," he said.

"It was the passengers who were helping other passengers to stay calm and telling them not to jump ship."

Sajili clung to a small part of the boat that stayed above the waterline until the last possible moment, before letting go and swimming towards a life raft.

The raft flipped over before he reached it as desperate people tried to pull themselves from the water.

"In the end, we just held on to the upside-down life raft and floated. We were floating at sea for more than three hours," he said.

The first rescue vessels arrived at around 3:30 am, Sajili said, although those bobbing in the water faced a longer wait.

Small groups of survivors waited in turn to be picked up by fishing vessels as well as boats sent by the ferry's owner, Aleson Shipping Lines.

'Unacceptable'

"We were just floating and comforting each other, encouraging each other not to panic," Sajili said.

The coast guard's response time had been "unacceptable", he said.

The ferry sank about five kilometres (three miles) east of Basilan province's Baluk-Baluk Island, near the Zamboanga peninsula.

"We're near Basilan, but it took them more than three hours to respond to us," he said.

He also disputed descriptions of rough seas at the time of the sinking, saying the waves had only become stronger after they had been in the water for hours.

After speaking with other survivors, he believed there was a strong likelihood that a lawsuit would be filed against the ferry's owner.

"I think we can gather enough evidence to prove that the crew members of the ship were really negligent," he said.

Aleson Shipping Lines, which also operated the Lady Mary Joy 3 ferry, on which 31 people were killed in a 2023 fire, did not respond to calls for comment.

"I'm just thankful that many survived," Sajili said. "But I hope this also serves as a lesson to shipping lines for them to do their obligation under the law."