DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 4 February) — An official of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) 11 said that his office did not receive any application for a special permit from the boat operator of M/Bca Amejara to travel to Governor Generoso in Davao Oriental, which is outside its authorized franchise.
During a press conference at the Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao (CGDSEM) in Sasa on Tuesday, Virvic Paul Erese, officer-in-charge of the MARINA-11, said boats with an existing certificate of public conveyance (CPC) must first apply for a special permit, which will be subject to evaluation by the agency, before they are allowed to travel to destinations outside their authorized routes.
M/Bca Amejara left port on January 17 without a special permit to sail to Governor Generoso, Erese, he said.
“If they wanted to travel outside the authorized route, they can, subject to evaluation, but they will be issued a special permit. In this case, there was no application received by our office,” he said.
The recreational boat sailed on a fishing venture carrying 12 passengers and four crew members. Of this number, six bodies have been recovered, and one survivor has been found as of February 4, while nine people remain missing.
Erese said that the Amejara’s existing CPC authorized it to operate between Davao City and three destinations in the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS).
MindaNews had earlier reported that the boat’s CPC covers only the areas from Sta. Ana Wharf in Davao City to Coral Garden, Babu Santa, Sabang Cliff, Wishing Island, and Pasig Kidupong, IGACOS, and vice versa; from Sta. Ana Wharf to Angel’s Cove, Dayang Beach Resort, Coral Garden, Coastafba Beach Resort, Kaputian Beach Resort, and Kidupong, IGACOs and vice versa; and from Sta. Ana Wharf to Vanishing Island, Buenavista Island, Ligid Sako (all in IGACOS) and vice versa.
Erese urged boat operators to strictly follow the authorized routes specified in their CPC to prevent maritime accidents.
“The bottom line is, travel only within your authorized routes. You are covered by a franchise. It is called a CPC, similar to a jeepney. If you are authorized only for a particular route, it is a major risk to go beyond it,” he said.
Commodore Philipps Soria, commander of the CGDSEM, said that the Coast Guard personnel at Sta. Ana Wharf did not give clearance to the boat captain when it sailed, as its declared destination was already outside the vessel’s authorized franchise area.
He said the penalties for boats that leave port without clearance from the Coast Guard amount to ₱50,000, with an additional fine of ₱50,000 if there is no master’s declaration of safe departure, and another ₱10,000 if there is connivance among the crew members.
Violators will be apprehended in their next port of call, he said.
The Coast Guard announced the termination of its search and rescue operations and the shift to search and retrieval operations beginning Tuesday after determining that the probability of finding survivors from the M/Bca Amejara is no longer feasible following 16 days of the rescue mission.
According to the list released by the Coast Guard on January 30, the passengers included in the manifest and on board during the incident were Porferio Lanorias Jr., John Julius Alcazar, Steven Ang Tan, Hector Emberga, Earlan Uyking, Anthony Banzali, Mark Levi Apayo Lao, Herwin Tan, and Ace Cortez. Additional passengers who were on board but not listed in the manifest were Reymark Napuli, Ranil Florino, and Rogelio Gomez.
Crew members were Patrocinio F. Genita III (the boat captain), Homer Bordado Bolasa, Christian Genita II, and Christopher Tecson Bulig, who was the lone survivor so far.
Of the six bodies retrieved, four were recovered on January 24 at 60.2 nautical miles south of Maguling Point in Maitum, Sarangani Province, while another cadaver was found on the same day, about 10 nautical miles from where the four were found. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
