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PCG fetes teenage girl for swimming for 2 hours to seek help for capsized boat

Philippines | Visayas

PCG fetes teenage girl for swimming for 2 hours to seek help for capsized boat

By Tara Yap

THE Philippine Coast Guard awards Cherry Ann B. Mateo for her heroism. (PCG-Western Visayas)

THE Philippine Coast Guard awards Cherry Ann B. Mateo for her heroism. (PCG-Western Visayas)

ILOILO CITY – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) hailed a 12-year-old girl for swimming for hours to obtain help for a capsized passenger boat in the sea of Antique province last week.

Cherry Ann B. Mateo was awarded by PCG-Western Visayas officials led by Commodore Ludovico D. Librilla Jr. in a ceremony on Monday, May 11, here.

Mateo swam for more than two hours in the open sea to reach the shoreline of Batbatan Island in Culasi town to get assistance.

She received a certificate for her “extraordinary courage after swimming approximately six kilometers” to the shoreline of Batbatan Island.

The PCG-Western Visayas also awarded rescuers Edgar B. Antonio and Johnny M. Patricio for their vital roles in the successful rescue of passengers.

“Their heroism, courage, and selflessness is an inspiration to the community and a testament to the ‘bayanihan’ spirit in times of emergency,” said PCG-Western Visayas in a statement.

Also present during the awarding were Lt. Commander Lennie Marie Pelaez of PCG-Antique and Commander Jan Terazona of PCG-Iloilo.

Broderick Train, chief of the Antique Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (Antique PDRMMO), asked the provincial government to recognize Mateo’s heroism.

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PCG Antique

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