Yellow Submarine told to submit results of in-house inquiry

PRESSED to explain a coral rock mishap with their Yellow Submarine,  Korean operators wrote to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza – but forgot to include supporting documents.

The   Lapu-Lapu City Legal Office ordered the management of  Cebu Yellow submarine and Undersea Tour Corp. to send  attachments mentioned in their written reply.

Yuri Benluan of the Lapu-Lapu City Legal Office said the mayor’s office found  insufficient the management’s written explanation about last month’s incident that was videotaped and uploaded by a Japanese diver on YouTube.

Mayor Radaza last April 29 issued a cease and desist order against the operator and required them to explain why their business permit, which she suspended, should not be revoked.

General manager Kim Jun and Lee Dong Gun, President and CEO, in their letter said that contrary to earlier reports, they already submitted a written reply on the incident to the mayor’s office on April 29 before she issued the cease and desist order.

They said they received the notice of violation issued by the City Administrator on Friday, Apr. 26 and sent their reply two days after.

In their May 1 letter, the Korean businessmen  said they were attaching the results of their in-house inquiry with their written explanation given during a press conference also on the same day.

“We are one with the City of Lapu-Lapu in promoting tourism, as it was our intention in bringing here the first and only tourism submarine in the country, and at the same time protecting our environment. We will cooperate and comply with the city’s present and future requirements in protecting the environment,” they wrote.

A clerical error must have occured.

Benluan said they received the letter nt last May 2 without any attachments.

He said this leaves their reply invalid but that the management will be given another day to send the papers.

Yellow  Submarine officials earlier denied that their seacraft hit any corals in Mactan, adding that the diver’s video posted on YouTube was misleading as the “cloud of dust” seen in the tape was actually caused of propeller motion and not proof of impact.

Benluan said the mayor’s office will review their papers and the recommendation of the Maritime Industrial Authority (Marina) and the Philippine Coast Guard-Cebu before deciding whether  or not to lift the suspension.

Last Saturday, Coast Guard personnel inspected the Kontiki Drop and took footage of the damaged coral walls located 20 meters deep. Correspondent Norman V. Mendoza