Death toll in ferry tragedy rises to 42

By Ephraim Aguilar, A1
Inquirer Southern Luzon

LEGAZPI CITY—THE DEATH TOLL IN the sea tragedy involving the MB Don Dexter Cathlyn has climbed to 42, and the Philippine Coast Guard is preparing to launch an investigation.

Capt. Enrico Evangelista, spokesperson of the Coast Guard, told the Inquirer in Manila that a special Board of Marine Inquiry would determine whether force majeure or human error had caused the tragedy, and look into reports that the boat was overloaded when it left Dimasalang, Masbate, on Tuesday afternoon.

The motorized boat was on its way to Bulan, Sorsogon, when a sudden strong wind struck it and caused it to overturn, tossing its passengers into the sea.

Senior Supt. Reuben Sindac, Masbate police director, had earlier said 119 passengers were officially recorded. But a list sent to Inquirer Southern Luzon by Capt. Henry Caballero of the Coast Guard in Bicol showed that as of noon yesterday, there were 42 dead, nine missing and 100 survivors, for a total of 151.

President Macapagal-Arroyo will fly to Masbate tomorrow afternoon to deliver insurance money to the families of the victims, according to Lucita Madarang of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) in Bicol.

Madarang said the President would hand out P200,000 for every casualty. She said the excess passengers, or those not included in the manifest, were not covered by insurance.

For 100 only

Marina documents showed that the wooden Don Dexter Cathlyn had a passenger capacity of only 100.

Late on Tuesday, survivor Pedro Bultron of Palanas, Masbate, said: “We were crowded inside. Some passengers were already standing. Maybe the boat lost its balance.”

PO3 Isagani Princesa, assistant detachment commander of the Coast Guard in Cataingan, Masbate, said it was “standard operating procedure for a departing vessel to give notice on the number of its passengers before [setting sail].”

But this was not done because the Coast Guard office is located in Cataingan, which is about 30 kilometers from the Dimasalang port, he said.

Princesa said the Don Dexter Cathlyn was only a small craft with a gross tonnage of 13.7 and net tonnage of 9.3.

The owner of the boat is Amiel Tamayo of Dimasalang, and not Edward Yap, as earlier reported.

Tamayo is the owner of the Don Dexter Sea transport, Princesa said. He identified the captain of the capsized boat as Dante Bombales.

A team from the local government of Bulan was to have helped in the search-and-rescue operations in Dimasalang yesterday, but heavy waves prevented it from traveling to the site.

Breaches in procedure

Bombales is now in the custody of the Coast Guard in Masbate.

Evangelista said Bombales would be investigated for not informing the Coast Guard that the boat was sailing, and for failing to submit a required document known as the master’s oath of safe departure.

The document serves as a captain’s sworn statement that his boat is seaworthy.

Marina has sent a show-cause order to Bombales and to boat owner Tamayo. The two men have been told to reply within 10 days.

Repeated calls by the Inquirer to Tamayo went unanswered.

The fine imposed on an operator of an overloaded passenger vessel weighing up to 50 tons is P2,000 (for first offense), according to Marina development specialist Emelita Miranda.

She said the permit to operate could be canceled if the operator was proved liable for a tragedy.

The planned investigation is the second to be undertaken by the Coast Guard this year.

In June, the MV Princess of the Stars owned and operated by Sulpicio Lines Inc. sank off the coast of Romblon. Only 56 of the 864 people aboard survived.

The Board of Marine Inquiry that investigated the tragedy blamed the vessel’s captain for sailing to Cebu from Manila despite the bad weather, and Sulpicio Lines for allowing the ship to leave port.

Isolated thunderstorm

Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in Legazpi City, said an isolated thunderstorm could have caused the Tuesday tragedy.

“There was no recorded tropical depression but only an intertropical convergence zone, causing strong winds mainly in the northern and northeastern coasts,” Samar said on the phone.

“There is no way of predicting isolated thunderstorms, and they happen only within a span of one to two hours,” she said. With reports from Kristine L. Alave in Manila; Roy Gersalia, Inquirer Southern Luzon