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Ferry in Batangas mishap not designed for sea - officials


MV Baleno 9 – the second-hand roll-on, roll-off (RORO) vessel that sank off Batangas province last Saturday night – was not designed to sail on open sea, officials said Tuesday. "It was built in Japan in 1992, for bay use [or for] inland waters," Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo told a Senate hearing on the recent sea tragedies. Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Maria Elena Bautista said most of the RORO vessels in the country are for inland water use that were only allowed to sail on open seas after passing a certain class standard. "These are second-hand vessels from Japan and they are really designed for inland waters but we classed them, and if they pass the class standards then they are allowed to sail. Pag hindi natin in-allow walang matitirang barko sa Pilipinas (If we don’t allow them, there will be no ships left in our country)," she said. Six people were confirmed dead in the incident – the second one in less than a week – while 44 more remain missing as of Tuesday afternoon. On Christmas Eve, three people were killed while dozens went missing after MV Catalyn B collided with a fishing vessel off Limbones Island in Cavite province. [See: 3 bodies retrieved, 24 remain missing in Cavite sea mishap] Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the blue ribbon committee that conducted the hearing, said authorities had courted disaster when they allowed MV Baleno 9 to sail on open seas. "I'm not going to allow my children to even board a vessel that goes where the waves are high, in a boat designed by the Japanese for inland waters…," he said. Retired Captain Robert Garcia, a representative from the Department of Transportation and Communication, said the waters off Verde Island where the ill-fated passenger vessel sank "have very strong currents."


Major patron During the hearing, senators found out that MV Baleno 9 was manned by a major patron, a marine deck officer duly registered to act as master of a vessel. Gordon questioned why the vessel was manned by only a major patron and not a certified ship captain. Bautista said under international shipping rules, a major patron is allowed to man vessels weighing less than 500 tons. “It’s based on the gross tons of ship and this is a worldwide practice,’’ she said. Baleno 9 had a gross weight of 119 tons. The Marina administrator said that to correct their policies, they drafted an 18-chapter Maritime Code that is now pending before the Senate. She, however, said that this was now down to eight chapters due to strong lobbying by shipping companies. "There are a lot of very influential ship owners and they have lobbyists. They have supporters in different political posts and it is very difficult as a bureaucrat to really push for what we really need," Bautista said. Passenger list Also found out during the hearing was a big discrepancy between the number of passengers as listed in the manifest initially submitted to the Coast Guard, and the number of actual passengers. Lt. Algier Ricafrente, PCG station commander in Calapan, Mindoro, said the manifest initially submitted to them showed Baleno 9 had 20 passengers and 18 crew when it left the pier around 9:18 pm Saturday. He said he received a supplemental manifest around 4 a.m. Sunday – or six hours after Baleno 9 sunk - stating that the vessel had 75 passengers. Tamayo, in an interview after the hearing, said it appears that Baleno had 123 passengers based on the actual headcount: six fatalities, 73 survivors, and 44 missing. He said the increase in the number of passengers could be due to last-minute riders or chance passengers. "Minsan nagkakaroon ng (Sometimes there are) additional passengers minutes before the ship leaves," he said. The Coast Guard and Marina agreed that the practice of selling tickets after the vessel's departure is prohibited. They also said having a supplemental manifest is a “fraudulent practice" as the list of passengers together with other documents that prove the seaworthiness of the ship should be submitted before the vessel leaves the port. "Crass materialism" Gordon blamed “crass materialism" on the part of the ferry’s operator, Besta Shipping Lines, for the tragedy. He also chided the firm for allegedly refusing to give to the victims' relatives the compensation due them. During the hearing, Gordon contacted a certain Randy Peñaranda, brother of one of the victims. Speaking through a speaker phone, Peñaranda disclosed that Besta Shipping Lines, through its owner Stephen Ang, had offered his family P10,000 for the burial of his sister. He said they declined the offer for being insufficient. “Ang sabi ko sa kanila, hindi basahan ang kapatid ko. Ang sabi ko sa kanila (I told them my sister is not a dishrag, that) P10,000 is not enough. I'm not asking for more, I'm asking for what is due my sister. I want a decent burial for my sister," Peñaranda said. He said the company later offered P200,000 but on the condition that his family should sign a quit claim, or a document stating that they would not hold the company accountable for what happened, and that they will not participate in any investigation on the matter. Peñaranda said that when he refused this, the company started “harassing" his mother. Gordon advised him not to sign the quit claim. Bautista also told Peñaranda that the Marina has issued an order directing Besta to pay and answer the monetary and incidental expenses of the victims and even their relatives. The Board of Marine Inquiry is set to conduct its investigation on the incident by early January while the Marina will hold a separate hearing on the cancellation of the franchise of Besta on January 7. - KBK, GMANews.TV
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