Ramos vows to improve sea safety
Ramos vows to improve sea safety
MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos on Saturday pledged to improve the country's dismal maritime safety record which includes the world's worst peace-time sea disaster.
Ramos said it was ironic that the Philippines, an archipelago strategically located in Southeast Asia, "has yet to develop a viable shipping industry.
"Worse, conflicting maritime laws, bureaucratic overlap and organizational inefficiency have greatly impaired maritime safety in the country," he said at a maritime congress here.
Ramos was apparently referring to the overlapping functions of maritime agencies such as the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Navy and the Maritime Industry Authority which had led to passing blame in previous sea disasters.
The president said he has formed a "multilateral task force on maritime development" to "fast-track" the implementation of measures to modernize the industry and improve safety of sea travel.
"We must now institute and implement reforms that will clearly delineate the functions and responsibilities of our several maritime agencies and bureaus under one maritime administration," he said.
He said he has urged congress to hasten the passage of a bill detaching the Philippine Coast Guard from the Philippine Navy and placing the force under the Department of Transportation and Communications.
The secretaries of transportation and national defense on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding which will allow the transportation department to deputize the coast guard in certain instances even before the approval of the bill.
An agreement has also been forged transferring the power to implement maritime safety regulations from the maritime industry authority to the coast guard.
"We cannot relax in our vigilance to keep our people and vessels safe and our seas clean, secure and navigable," the president said.
More than 4,000 people were killed when an overcrowded inter- island ship, the Dona Paz, collided with an oil tanker in the central Philippines on December 20, 1987 in the world's worst peace-time shipping disaster.
Only about 1,500 passengers had been officially listed on the ship's manifest -- reflecting a rampant but illegal practice of accepting passengers well beyond a vessel's capacity to carry.
The practice resumed shortly after a massive public outcry following the Dona Paz incident and several sea tragedies after that. No one has yet been prosecuted for the Dona Paz tragedy.
Maritime agencies are also supposed to conduct an actual count of passengers before a vessel leaves port, but this rule has often been violated.
In August, seven Hong Kong tourists drowned when a ferry they were riding in capsized on Manila Bay during a sunset sightseeing cruise. The vessel had no permit to operate, officials said.