A lot of people travel away from home to find a new job or simply explore a new place and enjoy a new, independent life. In the Philippines where there are so many islands, traveling home is not so easy because you have to ride a boat or airplane just to reach your island.
In late October 2018, while everyone was scrambling to go home in time for the All Saints Day and All Souls Day homecoming to light candles at departed family members’ grave, one scavenger man also wanted to go.
Ceferino Angco had no money to pay for the boat fare, but he was still honest enough not to try and stow away in a boat, he tried to swim from Cebu to Bohol! The boat fare was Php500, but he did not have that money.
With the distance from Talisay City, Cebu and Tubigon, Bohol just roughly 40+ km, he thought that he could just swim to get there.
On Sunday night, October 28, Ceferino decided to begin his journey home. He thought the night swim would be better as it won’t be too hot, but he didn’t realize it would actually be too cold!
At about 11PM, he began his swim for home. But he was just a few meters away from the shore, he suffered from muscle cramps; within a few minutes, he was no longer able to swim.
It was lucky that there was a slab of Styrofoam floating nearby. He grabbed this and was able to keep himself afloat the whole night. The next morning, people were surprised to find him barely holding on to the Styrofoam slab as it floated several meters away from the shore.
Members of the Bantay Dagat swiftly rescued Ceferino at around 8AM on Monday and brought to the barangay hall of Cansojong, Talisay. He told his rescuers that he would still attempt the swim once he feels better because he really wanted to go home to visit his parents’ grave.
Taking pity on this honest man’s plight, his story quickly went viral and several netizens arrived to bring help.
Talisay City Councilor Antonio Bacaltos Jr. personally accompanied Ceferino to the pier in Cebu City to buy him tickets for Bohol. He also received plenty of financial assistance from netizens, more than enough for him to also buy bus tickets for home and have provisions to take along the way.
