Despite living abroad, Filipinos whose relatives were on board the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars said they are also affected by the worst sea tragedy to hit the Philippines.

Siblings Angie Williamson and Mila Kellaway became worried when they found out that two of their siblings in the Philippines were passengers of the vessel that capsized off Romblon province.

Their brothers, Renato and Wilfredo Matias, along with their wives, were passengers of the ferry that capsized at the height of typhoon Frank on June 21.

They said their brothers were on their way to Cebu to attend the wedding of their niece.

When Williamson heard of the approaching storm, she called their brother Nick in Cebu to check if the ferry had safely arrived.

The reassurance she got from her brother who was also closely watching the news did not stop Williamson from worrying.

“The typhoon is on its way and it is heading towards northern Cebu. If the Titanic is unsinkable what more of this one?” Williamson quoted her brother as saying.

Willamson’s fears were realized when Renato’s son who’s based in the United Kingdom delivered the tragic news via telephone.

Their ordeal didn’t stop there.

“Our brother Nick Matias in Cebu has gone through the horrific experience of having to view these 160 corpses to try and identify our two brothers and sister-in-laws and they are not among them,” said Kellaway.

They learned that some of the bodies recovered have “no more eyes, nose, ears” which made identification more difficult.

“To us, unless we have the body we could never find closure,” they said.

The sisters are very disappointed with how the vessel’s owner, Sulpicio Lines, is handling the crisis.

“I think Sulpicio Lines really has not done very much for the families of the victims,” Kellaway said.

They also learned from their brother that they do not have anyone to turn to for emotional or financial support.

“They are treated like pigs. Only security guards in the pier in Manila have to face the people who are grieving. Not even a member of the family who owns that shipping company has tried comforting those people or the victims,” they said.

Williamson and Kellaway, who both plan to return to the Philippines, have this message to the shipping company: “You have now killed hundreds, thousands of innocent souls. Please stop now. Don’t let your vessels travel anymore. May this be a lesson to you now because angry souls will eventually come to haunt you one day.” Carmela Trinidad Sison, ABS-CBN Australia News Bureau

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