MANILA, Philippines — A seasoned diver of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sacrificed his life yesterday afternoon while helping in the retrieval of the remains trapped inside the sunken ferry M/V Catalyn B. Petty Officer 3 Arman Bonifacio, 42, was pronounced dead by doctors at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center at 3:40 p.m. yesterday, according to PCG-National Capital Region-Central Luzon district commander Commodore Luis Tuason Jr. Bonifacio reportedly died of cardiac arrest. Bonifacio, a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-trained diver, led several rescue sorties during typhoons "Ondoy" and "Pepeng." The PCG team conducting search and rescue missions for the 16 missing passengers and crew of the Catalyn-B mourned the death of their comrade. PCG-Special Operations Group (PCG-SOG) deputy chief Lieutenant Commander Marco Gines, Bonifacio's longtime friend, said this was the first time that he has lost a man in an operation in eight years with the group. Costly dive The BRP Pampanga left the PCG headquarters at 5 a.m. yesterday and planned on doing three dives. However, they aborted their mission just before lunchtime when Bonifacio lost consciousness. Bonifacio and his diving buddy Petty Officer 3 Saturnino Cahilig Jr. were assigned to make the first dive at 8 a.m. Everything went well during the start of the dive and they reached the wreck at 221 feet. "The two divers moved from the starboard (right) side to the port (left) side of the ship to look for bodies. They were able to get hold of two bodies," said Gines. But as they were ascending, at about 170 feet, Cahilig reportedly saw his buddy indicating by hand signal that he was not feeling well. Bonifacio reportedly increased his ascent, which was against the rules because time was needed for the body to decompress. Cahilig tried to slow him down while assisting him to move up. The standby divers positioned close to the surface saw the situation and assisted them. Upon reaching 140 feet, Bonifacio lost consciousness and was immediately put inside the decompression chamber. "At first we thought that he would make it because when they tried to put an oxygen mask on him he would push it aside. When he was instructed to stomp his foot, he followed the order. We were all surprised that after about two hours of responding, his condition took a turn for the worse," Gines said. Gines said they would have to determine what went wrong because it was standard operating procedure for them to take the blood pressure of the diver and Bonifacio's read 130/80 just before the dive. PCG: Hurting, but no turning back The divers, however, were able to find the body of a woman who wore a white shirt and blue pants. She also had pink ponytail straps on left wrist and a lavender handkerchief. | Photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard shows PCG Petty Officer 3 Arman Bonifacio (with hand raised) involved in the retrieval of bodies from the sunken ferry MV Catalyn B off Limbones Island in Cavite last Jan. 6. As for the second body, Commodore Tuason said it did not reach the surface and they sent a fast boat to look for it as far as 15 miles, but it was never found. He said they would have to temporarily suspend the search and retrieval operations. "We would wait for the outcome of the autopsy and assess the problem to prevent a similar incident from happening," Tuason said. Gines said they checked Bonifacio's equipment and found it was in good condition. There are speculations that it might have something to do with his physical condition. Gines said that even if they take a break, the loss of their colleague and friend would not deter them from continuing with their mission. "The remaining divers said they are still willing to dive. We would be dishonoring him if we would allow our fears to rule us. We were prepared for this eventuality to happen." Tuason earlier promised the families of the victims that he would not call off the operations for as long as there are still bodies inside the wooden-hulled vessel. The SOG official earlier admitted that they would be embarking on risky dives since they do not have the proper equipment for the mission. by Evelyn Macairan | 
