Students' Philippines adventure (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Students' Philippines adventure

A FORMER Kingshill School pupil carrying out marine conservation in the Pacific has been caught up in a succession of dramas in the Philippines.

Peter Tovey, 19, from Ampney Crucis, is part of an expedition carrying out conservation work on reefs in Sogod Bay on the island of Leyte.

He is working for the Filipino Government and trying to log all forms of marine life in the area.

But in the past few weeks the work has been disrupted after;

a passenger ferry sank with 300 passengers missing, presumed drowned.

a catastrophic mudslide at Guinsaugon

the country was put in a state of emergency after a foiled coup attempt.

Peter's mother Jane, a teacher at Chesterton Primary School, said she and her husband Nick were relieved to receive a phone call from their son last weekend to say he was fine and unaffected by the most recent drama - the failed coup which took place in the country's capital Manila.

"He has got no access to email but he took his mobile phone with him and we are able to telephone him every Sunday morning," she explained.

"There are three awful things which have happened while he has been out there and they are anxious times for him. He has no access to TV and so has seen none of the images."

When a passenger ferry sank off the coast close to Leyte island, many of the diving instructors with Peter's expedition were called in to search for survivors and aid in the rescue efforts.

Although Peter is an experienced diver he was not among them.

But when weeks of torrential rain culminated in the terrible landslide in Guinsagon, just four miles from where Peter is staying, the British volunteers were unwittingly caught up in events.

Jane explained: "Once again expedition staff were involved in relief efforts but also many of the expedition local staff had relatives in the affected area which impacted on them and the UK volunteers emotionally.

"Peter was able to text us after the mudslide to say he was fine and not caught up in it directly."

An estimated 1,000 people are feared dead in the mudslide that buried an entire village when an area of earth covering 300 hectares fell on the area.

And as Peter and the other volunteers were coming to terms with the natural disaster, news of an attempted coup in the Philipine capital Manila broke.

Soldiers, police officers and communist activists were among those arrested after the attempt to overthrow the government

A state of emergency was imposed on the country prompting fears that the country could descend into civil war.

Jane added: "There has been severe civil unrest although a coup has not actually occurred and violent demonstrations have been confined to the large cities of the Philippines.

"The charity he is working for has been very good. They telephoned us after the coup to say Peter was okay but with all these dreadful things happening he is bound to be affected.

"All in all Peter is cheerful and composed - it has certainly been a character forming few months for a young man."