4 listed passengers didn't board MV June Aster, says PCG

MANILA, Philippines — Four passengers listed in the manifest of MV June Aster did not board the vessel before it left Baseco Port in Manila on September 8, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

The latest verification brings the number of passengers confirmed to have been aboard the vessel down from 132 to 128.

PCG spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab said the four passengers were located and physically verified on Wednesday, September 16.

The Emergency Operations Center in Coron, Palawan received information around 5:30 p.m. on September 15 that the four passengers had not boarded the vessel.

“Based on the verification, three of the four individuals said they had intended to book tickets from Coron to Manila but mistakenly booked the opposite route, from Manila to Coron,” Cayabyab said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“The fourth passenger had booked another ticket and had already traveled to Coron via another passenger vessel on September 5, 2026,” she added.

MV June Aster left Baseco Port at 8:13 p.m. on September 8 and was supposed to arrive in Coron at 6 p.m. the following day.

The vessel caught fire at around 6:45 p.m. on September 9, about 2.2 kilometers northeast of Barangay Marcilla in Coron, Palawan.

The accounting of those aboard had also been complicated by the disappearance of the vessel's captain, Capt. Roel Sarmiento, after the incident. Sarmiento turned up at the Palawan office of the vessel's operator, Atienza Interisland Ferries Inc., on September 14, five days after the fire.

The PCG said it planned to get more information from Sarmiento about the circumstances surrounding the incident, including his whereabouts after the fire and what happened before his appearance.

As of September 16, the PCG said 77 people had died, 43 survived and eight remained missing.

The agency said it continues to verify and reconcile passenger information as part of the ongoing accounting of all individuals listed in the vessel's ticket manifest.

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