A man who set out at sea in a Styrofoam box early this week was rescued off Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental after strong ocean currents carried him away from his intended destination, the province of Cebu.
The man, who identified himself as Reynaldo Roque, 31, married, of San Isidro, Leyte, had left Sitio Canday-ong in Barangay Calindagan, Dumaguete City, seemed to be not in his right state of mind when interviewed by police investigators, said SPO4 Joel Alcala, deputy police chief of Dauin.
According to SPO4 Alcala, Bantay Dagat personnel in Apo Island found him adrift in a Styrofoam box at dawn Monday and rushed to bring him ashore. He was turned over to a police personnel assigned at Apo Island, who, in turn, brought him to the Dauin police station.
Roque was mostly incoherent during police investigation, but despite his perceived mental illness, Alcala said the man disclosed that he was wandering around Dumaguete for awhile, sleeping at parks and scrounging for food to survive. Sometimes he would go for days without food, he further claimed.
Before that, he found his way to Mabinay town, about two hours drive north of this capital, but was also made to ride a passenger bus back to Dumaguete.
The man also claimed he wanted to go to Cebu, where he has a cousin, to seek employment but that he did not have fare money.
After being processed by the Department of Social Welfare & Development in Dauin, Roque was given P500 as pocket money and on Tuesday, was accompanied by Dauin police to the Sibulan wharf where he took the ferry across to the port of Liloan in Cebu province, Alcala said.
The man had some clothes and personal belongings with him, stashed away in a plastic bag inside a sack.
Additional information about the man, such as his family and relatives, could not be had due to his seemingly flawed mental state, Alcala added.