Draft:Salvador Bacsal

Salvador Bacsal (born 1943) is a former Filipino fisherman and father of Aludía Bacsal, both whom survived the MV Doña Paz tragedy.

Biography
On December 20, 1987, in Leyte Island, Tacloban, Philippines, Salvador Bacsal and his daughter Aludía were taking a trip to Manila on a passenger ferry, the Doña Paz.

Aludía decided to skip school and spend Christmas with her father in the capital city, as Salvador brings along his catch of fish and tells Aludía to help not lose it from the journey.

On board the Doña Paz, the father and daughter found themselves uncomfortable in the overcrowded ship, feeling packed in already.

At night time at around 10:00 PM PST, Salvador was on the bow of the ship right after he relieved himself when unable to find a restroom. He suddenly was the first to see the oncoming oil tanker MT Vector coming in collision with the Doña Paz.

In sight of the Vector, Salvador stated: “After a while it seemed to be getting too close. I said to myself: ‘We’re going to crash.’”

As the fire rages from both ships, he runs to Aludía, telling her that the pair were to jump into the water to avoid the fiery inferno, until they too would make contact with the oil spillage that caught flames and started boiling/burning passengers alive.

As Salvador swims away from the flames, he finally reaches to his daughter Aludía. He accidentally grabs her arm to make it to him, unnoticeably with the skin of her arm peeling off.

More than several hours later, they were rescued from a ferry known as the Don Claudio (among other 27 surviving).

Mentions
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Salvador and his daughter Aludía - among some survivors telling their stories on the Doña Paz, were featured in a documentary Asia’s Titanic (2009).