File photo taken on July 28, 2023. shows the capsized passenger boat M/B Princess Aya off the coast of Binangonan, Rizal. (REUTERS)
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva expressed concern over the alarming number of maritime accidents in the country.
Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) Administrator Hernani Fabia, in a Senate hearing on the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Transportation on Tuesday bared that a total of 782 maritime accidents were recorded in the country from 2018 to 2022.
“This is unacceptable. Has there been a review of policies by Marina, in coordination with other agencies, to mitigate, if not completely avoid similar maritime incidents?” Villanueva asked in English and Filipino.
“This 782 maritime accidents you [have] mentioned is alarming,” he added.
“This is alarming. Kasi hindi takot ang mga ano sa compliance dahil walang teeth ang aming policy,” Fabia said.
This prompted Villanueva to ask Fabia what actions are being done to prevent these incidents from happening again. Otherwise, the senator noted, this problem will “continue to go and and on.”
“We are doing something. We are trying to educate the vessel owners. We are going to have a maritime safety summit [and] we [will] review our policy on that,” said Fabia.
The Marina official likewise pointed out that they are eyeing to revisit and amend Presidential Decree No. 474, the law behind the creation of Marina, to possibly align it with changing times.