Sunday, November 16, 2008

PCG: 1 of 3 missing victims of Iloilo sea tragedy recovered

GMANews.TV - Friday, November 7
MANILA, Philippines - The death toll from the sinking of the motor banca MB Roliv off Iloilo Thursday rose to 12 with the recovery of the body of a child before noon Friday.
In an interview on dzBB radio, Commodore William Melad, head of the Coast Guard in Western Visayas, identified the fatality as Jethniel Flores, 3, adding that two other passengers remain missing.
"Kanina nakakuha tayo isang bangkay ng bata. Nabawasan na ang naunang tatlo na nawawala. Ang dalawang missing, matanda (We recovered the body of a child. There were previously three passengers listed as missing. The other two are adults)," Melad said.
Earlier, the Coast Guard listed the other two missing passengers as Angelo Tuguero, 50; and Melinda Alopena.
Initial investigation showed the vessel left the Feeder Port in Concepcion town in Iloilo without submitting the necessary documents to the Coast Guard Mobile Team.
He also noted there was a ban on sailing then as public storm warning signal no. 1 was in effect in Iloilo due to tropical depression "Quinta."
Meanwhile, Melad said the Coast Guard recorded two other marine incidents in the wake of tropical depression "Quinta" but the passengers were all rescued in both cases. - GMANews.TV
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/gma/20081107/tph-pcg-1-of-3-missing-victims-of-iloilo-ce44f36.html

I’m just wondering why these things keep on happening. I mean, there has been a number of news like this in the past- ships/boats sinking, bodies missing, relatives crying- and it seems that people haven’t learned yet. If there was a ban in sailing due to the incoming storm, then why would these people still sail? Why go out of the house even? This just does not make any sense. Whether there is a lapse in communication with the authorities or just mere irresponsibility of the people involved, there is something terribly wrong here because it keeps on happening. I wonder how many sea tragedies have occurred just this year (not to mention the Sulpicio Lines and Princess of the Stars which also sank), and how many people have died because of this.
I hope that the people can be more responsible. The government should be strict in implementing laws on sea travel, and the people riding these water transportations should be more vigilant with regards to the weather since we are in a tropical country. Year by year we are bombarded by tropical storms/typhoons. We cannot expect these things to stop because they are natural phenomena. It is we, the people, who needs to adjust.
Though many of us would not give a damn to the victims, though many of us would not ride on boats or ships, this is still a matter of concern to us for the reason that it says something about us as citizens, as a people/race. No matter what reason we give to justify an occurrence such as this, it will all boil down to the question of responsibility. And responsibility is a value that indicates our preparedness towards progress. If we are not responsible enough especially in cases that concerns our own safety, then we are not yet ready to become progressive.

1 comment:

baller-ina said...

I think that the coast-guard, pagasa, the company itself and the customers have their own faults. Coast guard because they permitted ships and boats to continue although there are storms coming. Pagasa because they don't give accurate and timely information about the weather. I think what pagasa and the government can do is to upgrade their equipment so they could give the people accurate information. The shipping line because they didn't ensure the 100% safety of their vessels. And the customers, they are partially to blame for, because they still persist to travel eventhough there are storms coming. They even get mad when any transportation line decides to cancel due to bad weather. But at the end of the day these accidents can't be avoided, but they can be prevented it by taking safety measures all the time and by working together.