A Mindoreño family is desperately searching for answers one month after their son vanished from a passenger vessel, with authorities still unable to determine what happened.

Aivan Ramos Montalan, a 20-year-old tourism student from Saint Mark Arts and Training Institute Inc. in Calapan City, disappeared on March 3, 2025 while aboard the MV Trans-Asia 20 as it docked at Calapan Port in Oriental Mindoro.

His family in Pinamalayan town has now offered a P250,000 reward for information about his whereabouts.

Multiple agencies including the Philippine Coast Guard, National Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and Calapan City Police Station are investigating the case.

Missing CCTV footage
The investigation has been hampered by inadequate surveillance footage from the ship, with many cameras reportedly malfunctioning.

According to Aira Montalan, Aivan’s older sister, there’s no footage of Aivan getting off the ship, and no sign of him since he disappeared.

The ship’s cabin monitoring system, according to the crew, is temporary and easily erased.

Aira noted a strange detail about Aivan’s last communication: “He never used emojis when messaging me, but his final chat had an emoji and a note saying, ‘Wala na, tapos na’ (‘It’s over, done’).”

The case has gained national attention through media coverage, including segments on the popular programme Raffy Tulfo in Action.

In a further disturbing development, someone contacted Aira demanding money, claiming to have a “scandal” involving Aivan that they threatened to release.

The account was deactivated shortly after his disappearance.

“My son is a man, whatever that is, it doesn’t matter,” Elmer Montalan, Aivan’s father, said, quoted in a news report. “We just want to find him and know the truth.”

Lt Atanasio Lucky Barba, acting station commander of PCG-Oriental Mindoro, has confirmed that search efforts have been intensified, with teams deployed across coastal areas and coordination with local fisherfolk ongoing.

However, no breakthroughs have been reported.