By Aaron B. Recuenco and Jerry J. Alcayde A father’s love can be truly immeasurable. This was exemplified by a father who jumped into the sea in Balabac, Palawan to fight off a 15-foot-long crocodile that had dragged his 15-year-old son from a boat last Saturday. Karik Asli Buara is a good son. Instead of spending his weekend with friends, the teenager was preparing fishing equipment in their motor banca in Sitio Dumacga, Barangay Salang, Balabac, while his father was taking a nap at 2 p.m. Then suddenly, he shuddered at the sight of a saltwater crocodile approaching the boat. The next thing he knew, he was crying out for help as the crocodile had him locked in its teeth. “The crocodile is more or less 15 feet long. It was his mother who was alerted of the attack when he started screaming for help,” said Supt. Imelda Tolentino, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 4-B (PRO4-B) for MIMAROPA – Mindoro Occidental and Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan. But his mother was shocked and stupefied when she responded and saw her son helplessly shouting and struggling while already being gradually dragged by the big crocodile towards the sea. Realizing the situation and that she could not do it all alone, Karik’s mother immediately rushed towards their house, just a few meters away, and roused her husband Rosmin from sleep. Father in action By the time Rosmin went out, the crocodile and his son were already at the shallow part of the sea and he could still see his son struggling to free himself. It was then that he grabbed a bolo and immediately rushed towards the sea to save his son. “He immediately swam to save his son and managed to rescue him,” said Tolentino. But it was not that easy, according to Tolentino. The official said Rosmin had to wrestle with the 15-foot long crocodile and after a few minutes and was bitten by the crocodile before he was able to free his son. “He freed his son by stabbing the eye of the crocodile,” said Tolentino, narrating the story Rosmin told to the investigators of the Balabac town police. Victims hospitalized Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Luis D. Licup, regional director of the PRO4-B, confirmed yesterday that both Rosmin and his son Karik were wounded by the crocodile. “Both victims suffered wounds in the different parts of their bodies. They were taken to the hospital for treatment,” he said. The father was more severely wounded when taken with this son to the Regional Health Unit (RHU) in Balabac for treatment, Licup said. The town of Balabac, located in the southernmost part of Palawan, is composed of several islands. The southernmost part of Palawan is home to saltwater crocodile.