Five Hope Channel Missionaries Among 42 Rescued After Relief Boat Catches Fire off Southern Mindanao

Five Hope Channel missionaries were among 42 Adventist volunteers rescued at sea off Southern Mindanao on June 12, after the relief yacht carrying them and humanitarian supplies to earthquake-stranded communities caught fire. Everyone on board survived.

The fire broke out about two kilometers from the shore the team was headed to. Volunteers first noticed smoke rising from the vessel, and within minutes, the flames spread. Fishermen working nearby saw what was happening and rushed in, pulling people off the burning boat. One of the fishermen's own boats caught fire during the rescue. They kept going until all 42 were accounted for.

Among those on board was Pastor Elmer Romano, station manager of Hope Channel Southern Mindanao. As the smoke closed in, he prayed aloud: "Lord God, save us." One volunteer described what they saw next: "We witnessed something remarkable. We saw the fire and the cloud of smoke disappear." The account was shared online by a colleague at the Southern Mindanao Mission who was not aboard, relaying what those on the boat had described.

Romano was one of five Hope Channel missionaries on the mission. The others were cameramen Belsan Mauring and Kenneth James Duran, also from Hope Channel Southern Mindanao, and Kenneth John Tandog and Winston Jake Militares from Hope Channel Davao. They had come to do what the network does around the world: document help reaching people who need it and carry those stories of hope back to viewers. On this trip, they found themselves on the other side of the story they had come to tell.

The rescued volunteers were brought ashore in Barangay Pangyan, Glan, Sarangani Province, where medical staff checked them, and a debriefing helped them process what had happened. By that night, all 42 had returned safely to the Southern Mindanao Mission headquarters and were reported to be in stable condition. Even during the emergency, the Hope Channel team worked to secure the equipment entrusted to them and account for the gear they had carried.

The relief effort was responding to a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck off Sarangani on June 8, one of the most powerful to hit the Philippines in 50 years. It collapsed roads across the region and cut entire coastal communities off from help arriving by land. The volunteers were bound for Balangonan Port to reach families in Margus Dako, Sarangani, and Balangonan, in Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, with plans to continue to Balut Island the next morning.

They came from across the Adventist community in the southern Philippines. On board were officers from Adventist-laymen's Services and Industries (ASI), an association of Adventist business and professional people who support the church's mission; workers from Adventist Community Services; and staff from two regional Adventist church offices in Mindanao, the Southern Mindanao Mission (SMM) and the Southeastern Philippine Union Mission (SePUM). The yacht belonged to the local ASI president, Edsel Lim.

Only about 5 percent of the relief supplies were recovered from the water. "The safety of our volunteers remains our greatest blessing in this situation," said Pastor Nildo Mamac, president of the Southern Mindanao Mission. "Although we have lost supplies and equipment, we are grateful that every volunteer was spared. Material things can be replaced, but lives cannot."

The families the volunteers set out to reach were still waiting for help, mission leaders said. With major roads impassable, workers from the Southern Mindanao Mission and the Southeastern Philippine Union Mission were working to secure another boat to carry aid to the coast and on to Balut Island. Church leaders asked for prayers for the communities, the volunteers, and the work ahead.

Editor's note: This report reflects information available as of June 12, 2026. Relief operations are ongoing, and details may be updated as the situation develops.

Original report: Adventist Asia News https://news.adventist.asia/all/relief-yacht-carrying-adventist-volunteers-catches-fire-all-42-rescued