Press Release
December 30, 2009

Gordon: Practice extraordinary diligence to avoid sea mishaps

Senator Richard J. Gordon today said that ship owners and operators, along with concerned government agencies, should always put extra effort to ensure the safety of all ship passengers especially now that more Filipinos are set again to go on vacation in time for the New Year celebration.

"This should be the number one thing that we must practice--extraordinary diligence. When you operate a ship, especially a passenger ship where many people are onboard, you must be extra careful because one simple mistake can put all lives inside that ship at stake," he said.

Gordon noted that the investigation of his committee, the Senate blue ribbon committee, on the sinking of the MV Baleno-9 last Dec. 26 showed that more lives could have been saved, or the disaster could have been prevented altogether, if all the necessary preparations and precautions had been in place before the vessel left the port.

The senator said that apparently, according to testimonies of some survivors and crew, the vehicles inside the MV Baleno-9, which is a roll on-roll off (RORO) vessel, were not properly lashed. Furthermore, some passengers did not go up to the passenger compartment of the ship, but instead, stayed inside their vehicles.

"It is dangerous for people to stay inside their vehicles because they would not have access to life jackets and if something happens to the ship, it would be harder to rescue them from the vehicle and their car becomes their coffin," Gordon said noting that there should also be warnings posted inside the vessel that passengers are not allowed to stay inside their vehicles.

He added that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) should ensure that operators of sea vessels follow the rules and regulations before they are allowed to leave the port.

A cut-off time on the boarding of passengers and vehicles should also be imposed so that all the names of the passengers are included in the one and only official manifest, sans any supplemental document. The senator also stressed that the passenger manifest should be submitted to the PCG before the departure.

The initial manifest of MV Baleno-9 showed only 14 passengers, followed by a supplemental manifest with six more passengers. Later on, the number of the passengers totaled to 75, which is still far from the record of the Philippine National Red Cross of 132 passengers (72 survivors, six fatalities, and 54 missing).

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