MANILA, Philippines – The Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) will call officials of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) to answer allegations by Sulpicio Lines officials that the agency failed to immediately inform ship personnel that typhoon “Frank” was on the path of the M/V Princess of the Stars which capsized off Sibuyan Island last June 21.
“We will give them (Pagasa officials) time to explain and answer allegations that their forecasts were inaccurate hours before the incident. We will invite them because we want to hear both sides and determine who was really responsible for the accident,” Rear Admiral Ramon Liwag, chairman of the seven-man board, said.
Sulpicio’s port captain Nestor Ponteres claimed last Friday that Pagasa’s bulletins were “inaccurate” regarding the path taken by the typhoon at the time their ship was headed for Romblon.
Ponteres said the ship left Manila’s port using a bulletin from the weather bureau to plot its course on its way to the province.
He said since the vessel left Manila last June 20, he was in constant touch with Capt. Florencio Marimon who “was a very able shipmaster.”
He added that during a conversation with Marimon, the ship’s head sounded like he was getting confused about the weather bulletin.
“I will try to evade the typhoon . . . what happened to Pagasa, their (weather) forecast is different?” Ponteres quoted Marimon as telling him on mobile phone.
He said Marimon’s statement came after he apparently realized that the course taken by his ship put them directly in the eye of the typhoon.
He added that Marimon then plotted a course toward Tablas Strait which, based on the Pagasa bulletin, was supposedly about 160 kilometers away from the eye of the typhoon.
He said that Frank suddenly changed course, but the weather bureau reported it only six hours later.
Had the new bulletin been relayed on time, the M/V Princess of the Stars could have taken safer routes, Ponteres said.
He also told the BMI that the last communication Sulpicio Lines received from the ship was a text message from his nephew, a second mate in the ship, describing the vessel’s situation.
“Uncle, we are at the center of the storm, we are listing 40 degrees at portside. There’s an order to abandon ship, passengers are now in life jackets, please pray for our safety,” he quoted his nephew’s text message.
Sulpicio lawyer Maria Victoria Lim-Florido said the testimony of Ponteres showed that “Pagasa brought about this unfortunate incident, and that they were unable to predict accurately the path of typhoon Frank.”
But an official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which supervises Pagasa, debunked Sulpicio’s claim.
“Our mandate is only as a warning agency. When there is a change in direction of a typhoon, it’s our duty to inform the general public,” DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul Jr. stressed.
“How others use our forecast, we cannot control,” he said.
He explained that Pagasa’s mandate is simply to inform the public with forecasts that may help prevent natural calamities.
“When the typhoon changed track, we informed the public. It’s not Pagasa that is erratic; it’s the typhoon which was erratic,” Yumul said.
Benjamin Mata, BMI member, said Marimon should not have depended entirely on bulletins from Pagasa since “there were instruments on the ship, like a barometer, that could be used in determining the (state of the) weather.”
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has issued interim guidelines prohibiting any size of ship from sailing when storm signal No. 1 or higher is raised at its point of origin, along its route, or at its port of destination.
PCG commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the move will prevent a similar accident from happening in the future.
Tamayo said the guidelines took effect Friday and will be in place until new and more definite regulations are given.
He said a ship will only be allowed to leave a port after a storm signal is raised if it is taking shelter in safer ground, but it should not have any cargo or passengers.
In a related development, a Catholic bishop said that although the government is doing its best to determine those liable in the sea mishap involving another Sulpicio ship, “that’s of little comfort.”
The shipping firm had been involved in several big accidents in the past, but it continues to operate like nothing happened, said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, in a report posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
Pabillo expressed hope that the ongoing government investigation into the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars would bring justice to those who died in the sea tragedy.
“They (Sulpicio people) should also carry out their promises to families of the victims,” he said.
Sulpicio Lines had assured families of the victims of financial support and medical assistance to those injured in the sinkng of its ship.
In another development, psychologists from the University of Santo Tomas were sent to Manila’s North Harbor to help relatives of the victims of the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars in need of counseling.
Fr. Egay dela Cruz, head of the UST trauma clinic, said seven psychologists were sent to Romblon yesterday with the same mission.
He said the hospital could still send more psychologists if needed since they still have 13 more awaiting orders.
The priest said their move is in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Dr. Johnny Decatoria, also of the UST trauma clinic, said the primary mission is to give “psychological first aid” or “incident stress debriefing.”
He said relatives of the victims are also under stress because most of them are clueless if their loved ones are still alive or not.
Dela Cruz said Sulpicio Lines should also assign representatives who will give updates on search and rescue operations at Pier 12.
“By not doing so, more people will panic and become more emotional.”
The Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines also sent a team of nuns to support UST psychologists in their mission.