While some Iliganons, mostly not directly affected by the storm simply take the rumors as rubbish. The survivors themselves are adamant that they saw it with their eyes, some of the survivors heard the siren.
Above is the photo of the mysterious boat (from Art Babao Believes on Facebook).
Some testaments from the survivors:
Baby AgapayShe and her family used to live in Duranta, Sta. Filomina. She and her son saw the mysterious boat approaching, the son waved at the boat using the flashlight. As the boat approaches, it gradually disappeared right before his eyes.
Aileen Acosta and Herald Gerona
This couple is my batchmate back in highschool in DHS (IDS). They live in Gerona compound in Tambo, in my estimation is about 500 meters away from Mandulog river.
Both of them heard the boat’s siren during that fateful night. Herald, who climbed on a tree inside the compound, saw the silhouette of people inside the boat at a distance. He was delighted that a rescue boat was quick to respond.
Erlinda Torres’ husband
I interviewed Erlinda Torres in January at Sta. Filomina evac center. Her husband was not around during the interview. She said her husband saw the mysterious boat, “huge ship surrounded with lights”. She said, he closed his eyes and when he opened it, the ship was no longer there.
Some kid
I was in Tambo Terminal evacuation center, when I heard a woman whose nephew of about 10 years old saw the boat. I forgot to asked his name though.
Others believe that the boat seen during the devastation of Typhoon Sendong was the boat of Maria Cacao and once you enter the boat, you will never had a chance to step back on the real world.
Taken from a blog:
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Several days had already passed since Sendong hit our province but still, lots of people are still missing. The government had exerted much effort on regaining them but nothing was found. Where could they be? Many people said they could have been buried in the ground and were naturally decomposed while others said that they could have been carried by the water and were driven to far places. But have you heard of the Maria Cacao story by the residents in Bayug Island? Almost all of them saw this ghost ship. The Maria Cacao ship was believed to have gathered several people and where brought to nowhere.
As what an old man said, who was interviewed by some students, he saw the ship with his naked eye. “It was big. The ship portrayed a modern design, made of metal, and looked like a bigger version of Super Ferry. All the windows were closed. The ship was so bright and if you’ll take a closer look, you would be able to see two spotlights situated on both sides. The ship was like floating on the ground and river and along his trail were dead trees clumping together. This incident is not new to me. I saw the same ship years ago during the flash flood that happened here in Iligan on 1957 and exactly at the same place.”
Is this a fact or a myth? As what a legend says, Maria Cacao is a diwata or mountain goddess who lived in Mount Lantoy in Argao, Cebu, Philippines. Whenever rains flood the river coming from Mount Lantoy, or a bridge is broken, Maria Cacao and her husband Mangao travels down the river in their golden ship so that they can export their crops, or traveled up the river on their way back. She is supposed to live inside a cave in the mountain and the Cacao plants outside it are supposed to be her plantation.
All of us are unique. We have different point of views pertaining to a single subject. So in your case, do you believe this story?