Coast Guard wants review of Boracay safety measures

TOURISTS enjoy water sports such as helmet diving or reef walking in Boracay, but authorities are pushing for more safety measures to prevent accidents. Contributed Photo

ILOILO CITY—The Coast Guard has recommended a review of safety measures in water activities on Boracay Island after five tourists died in two separate accidents on Wednesday.

Commodore Athelo Ybañez, Western Visayas Coast Guard commander, said they would recommend to the local government unit of Malay, boat operators and other concerned parties and agencies to review guidelines on swimming and boat activities to ensure the safety of tourists.

“We will meet with all the concerned agencies and parties if there is a need to improve or add safety measures,” Ybañez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The number of fatalities due to accidents in a single day was among the highest in recent years on the world-famous island resort.

Two tourists drowned and four others were rescued around 8:30 a.m. near the beach front in Barangay Balabag after they were swept by huge waves and strong winds, according to a report of the Coast Guard station in Caticlan, Malay.

Five students of the Arellano University (Pasig campus) were swimming in front of the La Carmela resort when they were carried to deeper waters.

A tourist, Dabie Pedrosa, 28, tried to rescue the students but drowned. Two of the students also died—Gino Socito, 20, and Matthew Yambao, 21.

Three rescued students were identified as Francis Harina, 19; Jay-Ar Apostol, 21, and Rizza Del Mundo, 19.

The students were part of a group of 170 hotel and restaurant management students who were on an educational tour on the island, said Chief Master-at-Arms Serafio Trogani of the Coast Guard Caticlan station.

Around 2:10 p.m., a motorboat with 35 passengers, including 29 Taiwanese tourists, a Filipino guide and five crew members, capsized between Barangay Manoc-Manoc and Crocodile Island.

The motor banca Kevin-2 had just left the Tambisa-an port for an island-hopping tour when it was hit by a squall and capsized around 500 meters from the shoreline, said Trogani.

All the passengers were wearing life jackets but three Taiwanese nationals died after they were believed to have suffocated while under the capsized boat.

The fatalities were identified as Lai Yu Mei, 71; Chang Hi Ling, 49, and 3-year-old Chen Su Ching.

The Malay local government convened a meeting of the municipal disaster risk reduction and management council on Thursday to investigate the incidents and discuss possible measures, said Godofredo Sadiasa, executive assistant of Malay Mayor John Yap.

Sadiasa said that at the time of the drowning of the two tourists, swimming was prohibited because of bad weather.

He said they will investigate why lifeguards assigned in the area were not able to stop the students from swimming and respond immediately to the incident.

There are 16 lifeguards for the whole 1,032-hectare island, which has a 4-kilometer beach on the western side alone. “We will study the possibility of adding lifeguards,” Sadiasa said.

Boracay was named the world’s top island destination by the prestigious Travel and Leisure Magazine, solidifying its fame as having one of the best beaches in the world because of its white powdery sand and crystal clear waters.

Annual tourist arrivals in Boracay have grown consistently for the past several years, from 649,559 in 2009, 779,666 in 2010 to 908,875 last year. Tourism revenues also increased from P11.9 billion in 2009, P14.3 billion in 2010 to P16.7 billion last year.

Tourist arrivals are expected to hit the million mark this year.