Unsafe transportation
The typhoon season is still a few months away, but even big waves during mild weather can be lethal for the boats that ferry passengers in this archipelago.
Last Friday, three passengers died when a motorized boat sank off Gumaca in Quezon. With 64 passengers and crew rescued, the Philippine Coast Guard said the M/B Lady Aime was overloaded. The boat reportedly had a capacity of only 43.
Initial Coast Guard investigation showed the boat sprung a leak in its hull when it was battered by big waves. A vessel ferrying nearly 70 people has to be made of sturdier material, but the condition of the
Lady Aime is hardly unique in this country. Such light vessels remain the principal means of reaching many of the 7,100 islands in the archipelago.
Improving inter-island connectivity through better transportation facilities can stimulate commercial activity and fuel economic growth in underdeveloped island villages, but this has not been given sufficient priority. Even the roll-on, roll-off ferry service, launched in the previous administration and popular among the masses, was stalled under the current government.
Although certain fees are collected from boats for the use of small piers, the operations of such rudimentary modes of transportation remain poorly regulated. Except in popular travel destinations, rules requiring boat passengers to wear life vests are rarely enforced. When operators bother to prepare passenger manifests, these are rarely accurate.
The shortcomings are noticed only when tragedy strikes, but reforms in the industry have moved slowly even with the deaths of thousands in maritime disasters in the past decades. Among the reasons is the failure to hold ship operators accountable for disasters involving their vessels. After the sinking of the Lady Aime in the heat of summer, an investigation will again be conducted, but the case is bound to be forgotten as public interest in the story dissipates. And the sorry state of inter-island transportation will be highlighted only when tragedy strikes again.