COAST Guard commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo
Tamayo yesterday assured relatives of the victims of MV Princess
of the Stars tragedy that the findings of the Board of Marine
Inquiry will be "fair and objective."
The BMI on Thursday officially ended its
four-week probe on the capsizing of the Sulpicio Lines vessel
last June 21 in Sibuyan island near Romblon province due to
typhoon 'Frank'.
BMI chair Rear Admiral Ramon Liwag has said
they would submit their findings on Monday to Tamayo, who will
turn it over to the Department of Transportation and
Communication (DOTC).
Tamayo said it is a certainty that the probe
findings will be made public although it will be up to Transport
Secretary Leandro Mendoza to make the announcement.
As of now, he said, the BMI is still in the
process of intensive deliberation on the content of the
findings.
"Nagde-deliberate pa sila sa facts. Isa-submit
nila by Monday. Dadaan sa akin yan as (PCG) commandant," Tamayo
said.
The BMI convened last June 25 to determine
the cause of the incident and make recommendations to prevent a
repeat of the tragedy.
At least 173 died out of the 866 passengers
and crewmen. There were only 56 survivors.
Task Force Princess of the Stars chair Elena
Bautista criticized Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) for its
"inadequate efforts" to resolve the circumstances behind the sea
tragedy.
In a press conference, Bautista lamented that
the government has been shouldering most of the efforts to
resolve the issue.
"Ideally, SLI should be the one doing all of
these things. all I can say is kulang pa talaga (ang efforts
nila)," she said.
Bautista, also Transport under-secretary,
compared the Princess tragedy to the sinking of SuperFerry 14
following an explosion while on its way to Bacolod in 2004.
"I can just say that when SuperFerry had an
accident, the government did not even lift a finger. Now the
whole government is here, working. and governments from other
countries are also here working with us. It is already up to you
to make a conclusion," Bautista said.
She said the task force is relentlessly
working on several aspects including taking care of those living
and the remains - both cargoes and dead bodies - inside the
sunken vessel.
Bautista said that, as of the moment, there
is no indication of endosulfan pesticide or other chemical
contamination in the immediate five kilometer radius around the
wreckage site.
"We cannot say yet but so far, nasa
non-detectable level pa but we have to post mechanisms in case
of contamination," she said.
She said daily water sampling and testing
will have to be maintained.
She urged SLI officials to accomplish the
contract signing with Titan Salvage, their designated salvor.
She said the salvors would need about 21 days
to mobilize their operations and another 30 days to accomplish
the task of retrieving the toxic cargoes.
"If it (contract) were signed today, salvage
operations can start by August 4," she said.
The salvage contract is estimated to be
between $7.5 million to $8.9 million to be shouldered by
Sulpicio.
She said the Department of Health and other concerned
agencies are also set to conduct emergency evacuation drills and
contingency plans in case contamination occurs before, during or
after the salvage operations. - Gerard Naval
