La Critica - A man was assassinated in the style of the American Mafia from the 1930's. He was killed, and instead of cement shoes, they tied a sack around his neck and weighted him with metal so that the waters of Isla Flamenco would swallow him. But it was not the perfect crime. The victim emerged to the surface and yesterday his body was found floating among the yachts of this tourist zone. It is suspected the victim is a 21 year-old young man who has been missing since 22 December 2008 from Boca la Caja when he was taken by some Colombians. The victim was unrecognizable; there were tattoos visible on his shoulders. In the area of his abdomen there were two holes. The cadaver had a plastic bag on its head. (Photo Credit: Erick Marciscano / EPASA)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (303 words)

La Prensa - Authorities recovered the corpse of an unknown person that was found floating in the ocean near the Amador Causeway. The body of a man, approximately 20 years-old, had a sack of car parts tied around his neck and was in an advanced state of decomposition according to preliminary reports. Police have begun investigating the case to determine if it was an execution.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (75 words)

USA Today - Ryan Howard is putting the Phillies before his country. Howard, the Phillies' slugging first baseman, has declined an invitation to play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic because he'd rather maximize his at-bats in spring training. Howard is a notoriously slow starter in April and May, and he'd prefer to make sure he's ready to help the Phillies defend their World Series championship. "He feels like he needs to spend his time in the spring getting ready for the season so he gets off to a better start," Team USA manager Davey Johnson told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We'll miss him. We would have liked to have had his bat in the middle of our order." Johnson said Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins will play for the U.S. and split time with New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. But Phillies ace left-hander Cole Hamels and closer Brad Lidge also bypassed a chance to pitch for Team USA. Several other Phillies players are expected to play for their countries in the World Baseball Classic, which will be held in March. Reliever J.C. Romero already has committed to pitch for Puerto Rico, catcher Carlos Ruiz likely will play for Panama and reserve outfielder Matt Stairs probably will play for Canada.   

Central News Agency - Aid programs that Taiwan has launched in two of its diplomatic allies have been recognized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) as "successful cases of Aid for Trade," a non-profit foundation said yesterday. A program launched in Guatemala to help that nation export papayas and another launched in Panama to help produce and export safe vegetables and fruit were cited in a workshop sponsored by the WTO and other global organizations in October, said Chen Lien-chun, secretary-general of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The workshop was sponsored by the WTO's Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) , the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (182 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - The Panameñistas and Juan Carlos Varela spoke today at a press conference, saying he will stay the course and that he will not be stepping aside or joining Ricardo Martinelli. Saying "you can't buy the presidency with a checkbook," the battle cry of the Panameñistas is obviously going to be to attack Ricardo Martinelli and his money. For their part the CD camp calmly said the Panameñistas are apparently trying to blame all of their internal problems on Ricardo Martinelli, and that "each is responsible for the things that happen in their own house." In the exchanges today the people speaking for the Panameñista party reminded everyone that "we are the largest opposition party," which is true, at least until after this current round of elections. It's becoming pretty clear to me that if you add up all of the people who support Ricardo Martinelli, the members of the UP and MOLIRENA, then those guys outnumber the party membership of the Panameñistas by quite a bit. There's blood in the water coming from two sources; the first source is Balbina Herrera who is weak, and the second source is the Panameñista party which is weak within the ranks of the opposition. Right now the only shark swimming with confidence is Ricardo Martinelli.

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.    

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Last Wednesday there was an embarrassing incident at the Panameñista party headquarters in Calidonia. Internal differences and rifts erupted to the surface resulting in physical altercation. Party leaders Carlos Santana, José Blandón Figueroa, Junior Herrera, Álvaro Alemán and Alcibiades Vásquez were inside the party headquarters when a group of people arrived, shouting slogans in support of Juan Carlos Varela. As the party leaders left, Carlos Santana was chased and assaulted by a woman who was visibly upset. The rumor was that the party's executive directorate had started unilateral and direct negotiations with Ricardo Martinelli's Cambio Democratico party, and that they were offering up Jose Miguel Aleman as a Vice President on that ticket. The protesters did not want to see Juan Carlos Varela step down from his presidential aspirations, and accused some top members of the party of accepting money and bribes from Martinelli. All of this comes on the heels of MOLIRENA's decision to split from the Panameñistas and join the CD. Now, everyone is waiting for a statement from Juan Carlos Varela...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.    Click Here To Read The Full Article (1 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Welcome aboard to our latest link swapper - Panama Equity Real Estate. From their website: "Panama Equity is a fully licensed real estate brokerage based in Panama City, Panama. We are buyer's agents focused on on a high level of customer service and will help you find, negotiate, and purchase your city, beach, or mountain property. We provide an honest and comprehensive analysis of the real estate market in Panama to investors, second home buyers, and expatriates who plan to relocate to Panama. Welcome to Panama!" This is Kent Davis - a buddy of mine who's been knocking around Panama for a few years now. He's developing exactly the right "niche" at this moment in time as a buyer's agent concentrating on excellent customer service. He's going to do well, just because he's a good dude who works hard. And, he's bright enough to recognize the value of swapping links with Panama Guide as part of our long established link exchange program. See, I told you he was smart...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - It's official, the presidential candidates representing the two political parties that have dominated Panamanian politics since 1931 are in an all-out panic due to the surging popularity of Ricardo Martinelli of the Cambio Democratico (CD) party. This week the opposition Movimiento Liberal Republicano Nacionalista (MOLIRENA) (Liberal Republican Nationalist Movement) party broke an alliance they have held with the Panameñista (Arnulfista) party since at least 1988 when they joined forces to oppose the military dictatorship of Manuel Antonio Noriega, switching sides to join forces with Ricardo Martinelli and the CD. Another opposition party, the Unión Patriótica (UP) (Patriotic Union) signed an alliance with Martinelli months ago. With Ricardo Martinelli surging in early polling, gaining the support of and forming alliances with other smaller opposition political parties, and with just over four months until the general national election that will choose the next Panamanian president, Ricardo Martinelli is looking more and more like the man to beat. Faced with that reality, the leaders of the two traditional parties are shaking in their damn boots. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (2,326 words)

By MÓNICA PALM for La Prensa - Another deputy is being scrutinized for having imported a luxury vehicle, duty free, that ended up in the hands of a third party. In question is the Representative to the Central American Parliament Roosevelt Cabrera Caballero who is the substitute for Carlos Duque (PRD). According the vehicle registry of the Municipality of Panama, Cabrera is the owner of a red Ferrari 360 Modena that was sought by Panama's Anti Drug Prosecutor because it was the favorite car of David Murcia G., who was arrested and deported to Colombia for fraud and laundering drug money. This is the second Ferrari driven by Murcia that appears in the name of a substitute lawmaker. The other is Harmodio Villarreal (PRD), who has registered in his name the Ferrari G12 Scaglietti seized by the Direction of Judicial Investigation (DIJ) a month ago. Cabrera admitted having acquired the car, taking advantage of the right given to the representatives to the National Assembly and the PARLACEN to import cars duty free. He said he returned the Ferrari to the agency, which is why he does not know who has been driving around in it. "That car is still in my name? That's news to me," said Cabrera. "It would be a good idea to talk to the agency," he added. And that is exactly what the Prosecutor's office did last Wednesday, when they realized an inspection in the Auto Sportivo Italiano. There it was confirmed that Cabrera appears as the owner of the car and that he acquired the Ferrari in exchange for an apartment in the Aquamare building. It was not possible to interview the prosecutor José Almengor. Cabrera will be a member of the Central American Parliamentary for six more months. At least, for the PRD, his name is not on the list of main candidates and substitutes. (See Comments)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (523 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - In the coming days and weeks I'm going to be looking harder at the SCUBA diving accident which killed Edgar Kinkead near Drake's Island off the coast of Portobelo. Every time a tragedy like this occurs, I try to learn as much as possible about what went wrong in order to both warn everyone else about potential dangers and pitfalls so that we all can learn from the mistakes of others. It's really the only way to turn an event like this around, and to try to make things safer for those who will come later. In my earlier reporting I identified the victim, Edgar Kinkead as an American citizen. I now understand he was a Panamanian who was working for the MAERSK shipping company in South Africa. (more)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (1,033 words)

(AP) PANAMA CITY, Panama: Ken Griffey Jr. will give baseball clinics for children during a visit to Panama next month in his new role as American Public Diplomacy Envoy. U.S. Embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall says the star outfielder will be in Panama for five or six days. The exact date has not been set. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice introduced Griffey as a public diplomacy envoy last month. The 39-year-old is fifth on the career home run list with 611. He played for Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox last season, and later filed for free agency. His father, Ken Griffey Sr., befriended Panamanian Omar Moreno when the two played in the majors. The younger Griffey will give one clinic at an academy directed by Moreno.   

BY ERIC FARNSWORTH (Miami Herald - Opinion - No nation in the Americas highlights better than Panama the historical sweep of U.S. relations with Latin America. From gunboat diplomacy at the birth of the nation to questions of sovereignty, dictatorship, drugs and finally partnership built on commerce, the U.S.-Panama relationship has often been shorthand for U.S. relations with the rest of the region. As the new U.S. administration gets set to take the reins in Washington, relations with Panama may once again prove to be broadly symbolic. It's been 19 years since most Americans gave any thought to Panama. On Dec. 20, 1989, the still of the early Panamanian morning was shattered by Operation Just Cause, a short but intense U.S. military effort ordered by President George H.W. Bush to remove the Noriega dictatorship from power and to restore democracy to the people of Panama. The incursion achieved its immediate goals, one of which was to get the implementation of the Panama Canal treaties back on track. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (612 words)

By Judy Alster for Right Side Advisors.com - Quick, name the hottest economy in Latin America. No. Sorry. Not Brazil. It's Panama — home of the world's second largest free-trade zone (after Hong Kong), with an overall economic growth rate just a touch under China's, and boasting 23 consecutive quarters of economic growth with a GDP that grew by 11% in 2007. U.S. retirees are moving there in statistically significant numbers and the Panamanian construction sector is growing wildly. All good news for Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, or Bladex. We took a fast 8% profit in this stock in June in another 21st Century Investor portfolio. It fell some 50% by late October but now looks like it's basing. (more)    Click Here To Read The Full Article (243 words)

PANAMA CITY, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Panama's economy slowed sharply in October, expanding 4.74 percent compared to the same month a year earlier, the government said on Tuesday. The economy had expanded by 8.57 percent in September, the government reported, revising its previous calculation for growth in September, which was originally reported as 8.24 percent. (Editing by Tom Hals)    

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Lucy Haines from Panama Realtor got back to me, following up to a question I had asked earlier this week regarding current prices and values for new construction apartments in the Punta Pacifica area neighborhood of Panama City. She provides the following: Hi Don, I talked to Frank and Andres, and the consensus is that the asking prices for new construction in Punta Pacific for something on the ocean front 2500 per m2, however, a good, and very competative price would about 2000 USD per m2. This figure will vary depending on the level of the apartment and its finishes... but a good price that one should jump on for something new on the water in Punta Pacifica is 2000 per m2. hope this helps... Merry Christmas, Lucy" OK, great, and thanks. So, for a very nice 250 square meter apartment, the builders will probably start off by asking about $625,000 and the buyer should jump on that same apartment for $500,000. Those are the current price ranges, today, 24 December 2008, for new construction in Punta Pacifica. And don't forget to say "Merry Christmas" because it costs the builder about $200,000 to build this apartment. Ho Ho Ho...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.    

By Rolando Espinoza for TVN Noticias - 43 year-old American Daniel Witt, 65 year-old Canadian Bruce Hill, 19 year-old Panamanian Tria Gomez, 53 year-old Panamanian Isabel Miranda and a 4 year-old child were adrift at sea for more than 30 hours in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Panama. The five people departed the province of Bocas del Toro last Tuesday when their sailboat suffered mechanical difficulties and they were set adrift off of the Veraguas coast. A boat from the National Maritime Service towed them to Fort Sherman in Colon where paramedics were waiting and they were taken to the Manuel Amador Guerrero hospital. All were released after they were checked out by doctors.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (111 words)

By Meredith Serracín for the Panama America - The members of Panama MOLIRENA political party will make an important decision today. The National Executive Council of the party will meet to evaluate their alliance with the Panameñista party. Sergio González Ruiz, the President of the party, said meeting is being held in response to a request made by party members. González explained two things can come from this meeting. One could be to ask for a convention to evaluate the party's alliance and support of presidential candidate Juan Carlos Varela, and the other could be to approve an alliance with the Cambio Democratico political party and Ricardo Martinelli. If the last one is approved, the party would then solicit Varela to join forces with Ricardo Martinelli. González added that within the MOLIRENA party there are very serious people who can not be bought out, in reference to statements made by the Panameñista candidate Juan Carlos Varela, who said Martinelli is trying to buy the election. The Executive Council of the MOLIRENA party will meet today at 6:00 pm in the Palacio Dorado restaurant. (Comments Follow)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (369 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I know there's nothing really interesting going on in Panama when the evening news consists of little more than street crime and traffic accidents. Last night and this morning were like that - a steady stream of car vs. bus, car vs. power pole, taxi vs. car, what have you. When they have nothing else to talk about, the camera crews and reporters will park in front of the entrance to the Emergency Room at the Santo Tomas hospital and film every poor battered soul that comes rolling in. To me, that's the same as saying "there's nothing else worth talking about going on." Oh yeah, there were a bunch of traffic accidents yesterday. Thought you might like to know, but of course that statement will be true today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of my life. Don't worry, I'll only break it out when I'm bored.

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Every year in the month of December and the weeks leading up to Christmas there's a spike in street crime, but recently there has been a steady stream of local news reports about one shooting after another. Most of the violence appears to be youth gang and drug related as opposed to your standard run-of-the-mill thefts for money. In a recent interview with La Estrella PRD Presidential candidate Balbina Herrera actually blamed the United States for the current wave of street crime - saying if the US military had not destroyed the institution of the Panamanian Defense Forces 19 years ago, then we would not be facing the levels of drug and gang related violence on the streets today. Yeah, I know, that's nuts, but it shows you where she's coming from. What really matters is there's more drugs on the streets of Panama now than ever before, the police are way behind the power curve and they have clearly lost the initiative. In short - street crime is exploding and the government is trying to figure out what to do about it. So far, nothing has worked and the punk kids who are doing this stuff walk as juvenile offenders - they still have not figured out the whole "tried as an adult" thing down here yet. Eventually, they will, it's only a matter of time, but the question remains, when?

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By Denise Lara for Telemetro Reporta - The crime occurred in the "7th of September" neighborhood of Arraiján. A double homicide took place in Arraiján at dawn on Tuesday morning, after subjects entered the house of Isaac Atencio y Damaris Ramírez, and both were killed. Apparently the subjects were going to rob the couple and the struggled with Atencio who he had surprised. The assailants opened fire against him and his wife, who was six months pregnant. Atencio died at the scene and his wife died enroute to the hospital. Atencio lived in the 7th of September neighborhood and had been a Pastor for the past five years. There have been no arrests in this crime.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (119 words)

By Rocío I. Martins A. for El Siglo - Witnesses identify the presumed guerrillas. Yesterday the file containing sworn statements from seven inhabitants from the community of Manené, located in Darién province, was sent to the offices of Auxiliary Public Prosecutor, Luis Martinez. Among those declarations is the one from the person who acted as a guide for the guerrillas, as well as from the border police and the teachers who had contact with the six presumed Colombian insurgents on Friday, 12 December 2008, when they entered the area illegally. In those sworn statements taken by the Circuit Prosecutor in the Darién, the people who were interviewed identified the five men and one woman who entered the town of Manené heavily armed as members of the Colombian Armed Revolutionary Forces (FARC), according to a judicial source. It will fall to the Auxiliary Prosecutor Luis Martinez to take the sworn statement from the presumed FARC member who was wounded and captured during the exchange of gunfire with Panamanian border patrol police officers and from the teacher who was supposedly forced to cook for them. Later Martinez will have to determine, through his investigations, if they really were FARC guerrillas who entered Panama illegally. Until the doctor who is treating the presumed Colombian insurgent authorizes it, personnel from the Auxiliary Prosecutor's office will not be able to take his sworn declaration.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (206 words)

By Carlos Rodriguez for La Critica - Augusto Enrique Cordova was arrested last Sunday by DIJ agents who were executing an arrest warrant for "crimes against the patrimony" (corruption). The file corresponds to the embezzlement of $1.5 million dollars from the Fund for the Fairness and Quality of Education (FECE), monies supposedly destined for the improvement of 25 schools. So far there are eleven people in custody in this case. (Editor's Comment: This is another report related to the ongoing investigations into the FECE corruption case in which corrupt government officials, mostly working for the Ministry of Education in San Miguelito, forged checks and stole government funds that were supposed to improve the education system in that area.)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (71 words)

By RAFAEL PÉREZ G. for La Prensa - Panama's former Minister of Government and Justice Daniel Delgado Diamante filed a complaint for lack of ethics yesterday against the La Prensa newspaper and one of its journalists, Santiago Fascetto, before the National Council of Journalism. On the matter, the director of the newspaper, Siaska Salcedo, said this is another attempt by the former minister to discredit the messenger in order to turn aside the message, which is the crime of the death of Corporal Andrés García. (Photo Credit: LA PRENSA/Maydée Romero)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (105 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received today via email from Mike Hinton: "Don, this happened today in Cerro Cama. Today before my wife got up I gashed my hand wide open with a chisel in the web between my trigger finger and thumb. Because it was a wedge-shaped wood chisel, sharp enough to shave with, the gap was huge. It was about two inches long and over a half inch deep. I lost probably a pint of blood before I could get it to quit bleeding. I had splattered blood from the shop, through the house, into the bath and the sink - it looked like someone had slaughtered a hog. My wife Edilsa came in washed it with antibacterial soap, then held the cut open and poured it full of alcohol. She had to make a pressure bandage and wrap my hand really tight with an ace bandage to get the bleeding stopped. Today there was a female doctor at the clinic here in town thanks to a government program to help pregnant women and small kids so the clinic was full up. Due to blood loss and with at my wife's instance, they took me straight in. After cleaning the cut again (at which time I almost passed out) they gave me local shots in my hand, put two stitches inside the gap and another five outside, and the cleaned me up and dressed the wound with new bandages. On the way out they gave me 16 anti inflammatory pain pills (Diclofenaco) which I looked up on the Internet. It's good, new, and probably expensive in the states. A tetanus shot would have added another $1.10 to the bill but since I did not have my pensianado card with me to get my discount I decided to not get the shot. The total cost, including the stitches, pills, and a prescription for antibiotics was $5.50 (that's five dollars and fifty cents.) Mike" Glad to see you got it patched up, Mike. A trip to the ER in the US for an identical injury would probably start at $200 to $300 bucks, at least. And for the record, your "trigger finger" is also known as your index finger, unless you're doing something weird to hold the gun... (grin)

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Panama America - Panamanian National Assemblyman Leandro Ávila presented a draft of a bill that would allow for the immediate removal of cars involved in minor traffic accidents from public streets and highways as a measure towards improving the traffic situation in Panama City. According to Avila, the initiative would allow the report generated by the insurance company representatives who respond to the scene of accidents to be used by Traffic Judges to determine who was responsible for the accident. He mentioned the slowness of the response by Traffic Police to arrive at the scene of accidents, who until now are the only ones with the authority to produce an official report. He said the high number of accidents is due to the lack of courtesy and tolerance by drivers, as well as the increases in the number of cars on the roads every year, compounded by the fact that the major entry and exit routes to Panama City continue to remain the same.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (292 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - As many of you know I'm a lifelong Giants fan. Last night the New York Giants (12-3) beat the NFC South Champion Carolina Panthers (11-4) 34-28 in overtime, securing home field advantage for the upcoming NFL playoffs. It was a real "cardiac" game, with the Giants almost giving up several interceptions and a fumble in overtime that would have handed the game to the Panthers. On the last drive of the game the Giants were carried to victory on the back of Derrick Ward, who ripped of a key 51-yard rumble up the middle to put the Giants in position for a win, another 14-yard run to put them within field goal distance, and another 17-yard run to put them on the 1-yard line. Brandon Jacobs bulldozed the pile for the final touchdown to win the game, securing the critical home field advantage. The Giants finish out the season on the road next week playing the Minnesota Vikings. Life, as they say, is good...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

By Evelio Valdés for El Siglo - A total of 56 people have lost their lives in traffic accidents in the province of Chiriquí so far in 2008, the same number as in 2007, but authorities fear the tally might rise in the coming days as a result of the Christmas and New Years celebrations. Statistics from the Operations Directorate of the Ground Traffic and Transit Authority reveal that, through last weekend, the district of David registered the greatest number of victims with 13, followed by Barú with 10, Bugaba with nine, Alanje with seven and Boquete with five. Of the 56 deaths so far in 2008, 20 have been in collisions, 19 people were run over, 10 in single vehicle accidents, five in overturned vehicles, and two people who fell from moving vehicles. More accidents take place on Saturdays and Sundays.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (143 words)

By Carlos Estrada Aguilar for La Critica - The leadership of Panama's MOLIRENA political party decided yesterday to break their alliance with the Panameñistas and to begin conversations with Ricardo Martinelli's Cambio Democratico party. This new reality creates a politically complex situation, in that the CD and the Unión Patriótica (UP) will have to open up sufficient space to allow for MOLIRENA candidates to participate in the process. The situation is even more complex for the Panameñistas, because with this loss of a traditional ally the possibilities of a triumph for their presidential candidate Juan Carlos Varela are more distant. Things don't end there. This zigzagging in the decisions made by MOLIRENA president Sergio González Ruiz has created a new outbreak of struggles internal to the party who would like to take advantage of the situation to remove him from power.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (532 words)

By ROBERTO GONZÁLEZ JIMÉNEZ for La Prensa - Between January - September 2008 3.34 million passengers have used the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Panama, according to a report from the administration of the airport. This represents an increase of 564,000 more travelers, or an increase of 20% compared to the same time frame in 2007.   Click Here To Read The Full Article (54 words)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received via email: "I would like to caution anyone who wishes to SCUBA dive to be very careful of the company and people that you hire. Last Wednesday five young people went scuba diving in Portobello, I believe most of them were in their mid to late twenties. The ocean was very rough with poor visibility and strong currents. The divers were in the water when their hired boat lost its engine (engine wouldn't start and then fell off!) the boat operator had no radio nor any type of communication to shore and the divers lost sight of one another due to the waves and fierce current and the drifting boat. One of the girls swam for two hours to get help. Help finally arrived and one of the male divers was missing. A search and rescue was initiated by the aero club, the company where the young man worked (Maersk Shipping) hired a helicopter to search, SINAPROC had boats in the water and kayaks. His body was found around noon on Friday near Drakes Island. His funeral will be tomorrow, a very sad note for a young man with a brilliant future. KC" (more)   Click Here To Read The Full Article (1,236 words)