Pag-asa Island photo exhibit up at National Library
A photo exhibit of Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea was launched on Friday in Manila ahead of the eighth anniversary of the July 12, 2016 arbitral award that invalidates Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea. The exhibit titled “Pag-asa Sa Gitna ng Kalayaan,” which will run from July 5 to July 19, at the National Library of the Philippines, shows a glimpse of the life and situation at Pag-asa through photos taken by travel photographer Paul Quiambao, who went on a weeklong expedition to Pag-asa Island in May.
—NESTOR CORRALES
PCG rescues Chinese seafarer after mishap
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rescued on Thursday a Chinese seafarer who accidentally cut his left thumb in waters off Antique province. The PCG, in a statement on Friday, said it conducted a medical evacuation of a 35-year-old second engineer of Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier “MV BBG Qinzhou.”
The Chinese man’s left thumb was reportedly severed by a fan blade at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The vessel came from the port of Nansha in Guangzhou City in China and was on its way to Tanjung Bara in Indonesia when the accident happened 20.69 nautical miles west of Semirara Port in Caluya, Antique. The PCG said it deployed the BRP Kalanggaman and safely evacuated the patient at 6 p.m. Four PCG medical personnel gave medical assistance to the Chinese crew while under way to Muelle Loney Wharf in Iloilo City, it added.
Upon arrival at the wharf at 8:30 p.m., the PCG turned over the patient to the vessel’s agent who rushed the Chinese seafarer to the nearest hospital.
—NESTOR CORRALES
