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By Francis Earl A. Cueto, Correspondent
It was all business as usual, at least as of Tuesday, for
beleaguered Aboitiz Transport Services, the owner and operator of
the sunken SuperFerry 9.
On Tuesday morning, Jess Supan, Aboitiz’s vice
president for safety and security, said that another Aboitiz ferry
would sail for Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental province pending
the company’s receipt of a show-cause order that had been issued
by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
Marina stopped the 10 remaining passenger and
cargo vessels of the Aboitiz firm from leaving port, but Supan said
that as of Tuesday morning, they were yet to officially receive the
order.
The show-cause order sought explanation on why
Aboitiz’s Certificate of Public Convenience should not be canceled
because of the sinking of SuperFerry 9, he said.
“We have yet to officially receive the
memorandum order from Marina, and until such time that we have read
its contents and discussed it with the implementing officers of
Marina on how we will go about implementing the order, it will be
business as usual for all of us,” Supan told ABS-CBN’s Umagang
Kay Ganda (UKG) daily television program, which airs at 5:30 a.m.
The boat bound for Dumaguete City was set to leave Manila at 8:30
a.m.
Reports said that passengers who had bought
tickets at Pier 15 for the Dumaguete trip started arriving on
Tuesday.
The passengers said that they were not aware of
the Marina’s show-cause order.
Supan said that they would have to push through
with the trip despite the order. “We cannot second-guess the
content of the letter.”
He assured that once the order is received and
its contents discussed by Aboitiz and Marina, “we will cooperate
with the Marina people as we usually do.”
Police praised
Through Supan, the Aboitiz management thanked
the national-police chief, Director General Jesus Verzosa, and the
police in Zamboanga City for the “timely and professional
assistance by keeping good order at our survivor-processing center,
and the search and rescue operations by your men in Zamboanga City
during the SuperFerry 9 incident.”
Upon receiving reports on the sinking, Police
Regional Office 9 under Chief Supt. Angelo Sunglao immediately
mobilized Maritime Group 9 and Provincial Mobile Groups to the site
of the accident.
Marina issued the show-cause order late Monday
after the sinking of SuperFerry 9 that left nine people dead.
It said that on September 15, the 10 Aboitiz
ferries will be checked for seaworthiness and crew competence will
also be assessed before the official investigation of the SuperFerry
9’s sinking.
Transportation Undersecretary Thompson Lantion
also on Tuesday confirmed that the show-cause order was yet to be
served by Marina.
Lantion said that they expect the order to be
“officially served anytime today [Tuesday].” He added that the
shipping company could continue operating without the official
receipt of the show-cause order.
Another rescued
Lt. Col. Armand Balilo, Philippine Coast Guard
spokesman, said that they had received a report on Tuesday morning
that a woman named Shahani Bankiling was rescued by fishermen off
Zamboanga Peninsula.
Balilo added that Bankiling could have been the
last missing passenger of SuperFerry 9. He said that the woman was
rescued by a fishing boat marked Champion.
SuperFerry 9 carried 847 passengers and 117 crew
when it left General Santos City on Saturday morning. It sank near
Siocon Bay before dawn Sunday.
Marina has allowed three Aboitiz SuperFerry
vessels to sail for Manila as the suspension order issued by the
agency reached them also on Tuesday but at mid-sea.
Myrna Calag, Marina officer in charge, said that
SuperFerry 1, SuperFerry 12 and SuperFerry 19 were to be grounded
upon reaching Manila.
Coast guard commandant Wilfredo Tamayo said that
his office had received reports that SuperFerry 5 was loading
passengers at Pier 15.
The vessel was supposed to leave Manila at 1
p.m., but Tamayo said that he had ordered coast guard officer to
prevent it from leaving.
Motion for reconsideration
Meanwhile, the Aboitiz firm also on Tuesday
filed a motion for reconsideration with Marina to reconsider its
decision to suspend travel of the shipping company’s fleet.
In a five-page motion, it said that it was
unfair for Marina to suspend operation of all 10 ferries without
hearing its side first on the sinking of SuperFerry 9.
“Suspension before considering a show-cause
explanation is putting the cart before the horse,” the company
added.
Marina should “await explanation or answer of
the respondents before any sanction is imposed,” the motion said.
The four vessels underwent inspection and
dry-dock maintenance just recently, the Aboitiz company added.
“Simply stated, any deficiency in one vessel
cannot work to the prejudice of another vessel, which is undoubtedly
seaworthy, having already passed Marina inspection and audit,” it
said.
Economic impact
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon not only seemed to agree,
but he also suggested the suspensions slapped on both Aboitiz and
Sulpicio ships be lifted soon or else the economy would be badly
affected. A Sulpicio ferry also sank last year and the government
subsequently barred the company’s boats from operating.
All 968 passengers and crew of SuperFerry 9 have
now been accounted for, including nine fatalities, authorities said.
The death toll, though, could have risen to 10,
with rescuers recovering the lifeless body of an individual wearing
a life jacket with “SuperFerry 9” printed on it.
According to coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo,
there were unverified sightings of floating bodies off Siocon town.
Coast guard and Navy teams were continuing to
scour the area to make sure that there were no other survivors who
were not listed on the ship’s official manifest.
An oil spill response vessel from the coast
guard was also deployed to the area to monitor any discharge from
the wreckage of SuperFerry 9.
It is believed to be on the seabed 18 kilometers
off the coast of Zamboanga peninsula at a depth of more than five
kilometers.
The boat was thought to be carrying 250 tons of
fuel oil, and residents in nearby coastal villages have reported
seeing an oil sheen on the water’s surface.
President Gloria Arroyo has ordered a speedy
inquiry into the cause of the accident, amid reports that the
23-year-old Japanese-built steel-hulled ferry was already listing
before it set sail.
The Philippines has a poor record of sea safety,
and the SuperFerry 9 tragedy was quickly followed by the sinking of
a Panamanian-registered cargo vessel off the country’s eastern
coast on Monday.
All four South Korean and 15 Filipino sailors
aboard that vessel were safely rescued.
-- Llanesca T. Panti, Jefferson Antiporda, Sammy Martin and AFP
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