The Philippines coast guard launched a search and rescue operation late Saturday after an inter-island ferry with more than 80 passengers and crew began listing and is feared to have sunk off a central province, officials said. Office of Civil Defense director Blanche Gobenciong said the skipper of the M/V Maharlika II ordered its passengers and crew to abandon the ferry after it began to list in choppy waters off Southern Leyte province. At least 28 people from the Maharlika have been rescued so far, police officer John Ray Quisado in Southern Leyte's Liloan town told The Associated Press. Gobenciong said that she received a report that the Maharlika later sank but added that the report could not be immediately confirmed. Regional military spokesman Lt. Jim Alagao said initial reports showed the ferry carrying 58 passengers and 26 crewmen stalled due to a steering problem and then began to list. There were big waves at the site of the accident but the area was not directly affected by a storm blowing off the northern Philippines, Gobenciong said. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/110673.aspx
