MikeLigalig.com

Saturday, June 28, 2008

“Buanga ning Pagasa, pataka lang  (Pagasa is crazy, it is only guessing)!”

Nestor Ponteros, Sulpicio Lines Inc.’s port officer in Cebu, said this was the last message received by the SLI office in Cebu from Florencio Marimon Sr., the captain of the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars, just before 7 a.m. of June 21.

Marimon is still missing.

The last communication was received just before the 23,000-gross tonnage passenger vessel capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last Saturday.

Because of this, SLI is reportedly planning to file charges against the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), according to legal counsel Arthur Lim.

Lim refused to divulge the company’s plans but said they would make an announcement on Monday after they have filed the case.  “We are just studying all the possible angles and that is an option.”

He said the government’s weather bureau reportedly committed “gross incompetence and negligence. Pagasa brought about this unfortunate tragedy.”

SLI meanwhile said yesterday that they would fast-track the payments to the legal heirs of the passengers who perished or are still missing in the ferry tragedy.

In a one-page statement, Lim said Sulpicio would cut the waiting time from one year to a week, “if we can deliver the check in one or two days so much the better.”

He added that they would no longer wait for the authorities to retrieve the bodies before they hand out the P200,000 check. If all the 724 passengers were victims, the SLI would be spending P144 million.

In yesterday’s hearing before the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI), Lim told the seven-man body that the unfortunate event was caused by Pagasa “because it failed to disseminate the change in the course of typhoon ‘Frank’ from 11 p.m. of June 20, three hours after the vessel left.”

He added that Pagasa disseminated the information the first time at 6 a.m. on June 21 but failed to inform the ship when the storm changed course and allegedly did not coordinate with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Lim also appealed to the BMI to summon Pagasa to the investigation.

He said had they been informed in time or had Pagasa broadcasted earlier, the Princess of the Stars would have been able to seek shelter in Looc Bay in Romblon and the tragedy would have been avoided.

Ponteros said he has been with the SLI for several years and was once the captain of the ill-fated M/V Doña Paz. But at the time of the Doña Paz’s sinking in 1987, he was on leave and was in the United States.

He said he had known the 56-year-old Marimon since 1978 and was like a brother to him.

“He is the best master that we have,” he said.

Just before the ship left the port of Manila, the SLI port officer in Cebu advised Marimon “to take precaution and the captain said that he will just avoid the typhoon and take shelter at Tablas Island.”

At 9 a.m., they had difficulty contacting the ship through their single side band (SSB) radio and were forced to use the cellular phone.

Ponteros’ nephew, who was the second mate officer of Princess of the Stars, sent him a text message.

“Uncle, we are listing 40 degrees portside. We are already preparing to abandon ship. Passengers are now wearing life vests. Pray for our safety,” the message read. He then called his nephew and managed to talk to the captain.

Ponteros also denied early reports that the ship encountered engine trouble but that their speed was “half-ahead.”

However, it was a certain Captain Eugenio from SLI’s office in Manila who reportedly informed the PCG last Saturday that it encountered engine trouble.

BMI vice chairman Rear Admiral Benjamin Mata said it should be a standard operating procedure (SOP) of the shipping line to always check on its ship. “Like a father to a son, even if they are already living separately, they should still check on them from time to time.”

Apart from Pagasa, SLI could also rely on other weather bureaus in Hong Kong and Japan.

Mata, who has been a part of the shipping industry for at least four decades, said that during their time, there were no fax messages so they would at times depend on other equipment such as barometers to determine the weather. “On his own, the captain could predict the direction of the ship.”

Apart from Ponteros, at least two radio operators from SLI’s Cebu office were also presented before the BMI, namely, Allan Romares and Noli Alpas.




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           Kon tag-iya kag barko, hinumdomi ning mosunod:

1.      Kon patugatuga kag larga bisan bagyo, kinahanglan nga andam kang moangkon sa responsibilidad kon unsa may mahitabo sa barko, mga pasahero ug mga kargamento;

2.    Ayaw panaginot og usa ka biyahe sa usa ka barko kay kon mabulilyaso mahimong makanselar ang tanang biyahe sa tanan nimong barko;

3.     Kon simbako malunod ang barko ug mangamatay ang mga pasahero, likayi kutob sa mahimo ang pagbasol sa mosunod:

       a.     Philippine Coast Guard (seguro kang insultuhon sa Board of Marine Inquiry, kay sila ra man say nagduma, ug peligrong rondahon ang imong container yard, labi kon may gitagoan kang smuggled nga asukar);

       b.    Ginoo (seguro kang kasab-an sa mga Obispo); o

       c.     PAG-ASA (daghan untang modason sa imong pasangil, apan nauna na nimog tulisok ang coast guard ug ang Ginoo).

4.    Kon makadawat kag distress call gikan sa kapitan, lihok dayon bisan kon adlawng Sabado ug bisan kon nadaot ang sistema sa komunikasyon tungod sa bagyo;

5.     Kon mopasalig ka nga nilihok dayon ka pag-atiman sa mga pasahero sukad sa unang adlaw, seguroha nga nilihok ka sa una pa lang gutlo, kay lisod ipasabot nganong ang imong laing barko maoy labing kataposan nga nahiabot sa dapit nga nalunoran;

6.    Kon may kargamento kang makahilo nga pesticide itug-an dayon sa coast guard, labi na kon apil sa mameligrong mahilo mao ang divers sa US Navy, gawas kon daghan na kang gitagoan nga wa na kang kahibawo unsay itug-an;

7.     Kon modagsang ang kaparyentihan sa nalunod nga mga pasahero, atimana ug pakan-a dayon sila ug tubaga dayon ang ilang mga pangutana aron nga di kang sabonan sa mayor ug sa media, gawas nga matultolan ra gihapon sa forward billing ang imong buhatan;

8.    Kon may natakda nang birthday party sa imong pamilya, bisan unang birthday pa sa imong apo, sa wa pa malunod ang barko, kanselaha o ayaw ipahigayon sa Cebu Country Club nga bantang sa publiko, gawas nga may kahigayonan nga malilian sa mga kapamilya sa nangamatay nga mga pasahero nga mahimong maglisod pagsabot nganong mora kag si Nero nga nagsige lang gihapon og sadya ug kumbira bisan nagdilaab nang Roma;

9.    Kon ang labing uwahing pagkalunod sa barko di maoy una, nga ikaw na gani diay ang labing daghan og kasinatian sa mga katalagman sa kadagatan, ayaw pangayo og pagsabot nga wa magkadimao ang imong gihimo; ug
     
10.  Ayaw pagsalig sa imong koneksiyon sa mga politiko kay silay unang motalikod kon may atraso ka sa publiko, labi na kon naatlan ang labing dagkong mga opisyal nga tua sa gawas sa nasud, kay peligrong ikay isakripisyo pagtago sa ilang paglulinghayaw ginamit ang buhis  sa katawhan samtang nag-ilaid ang nasud sa katalagman.  [30]  leo_lastimosa@ abs-cbn.com


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